Tightenville
by KenderickBlazey
Summary: He woke up in the middle of a field with no idea of his past, or who he was. All he knew was that he was blue, and in this world, that was not in the least way normal. MM/RR, set near end of the movie, during the battle between Megamind and Tighten.
1. Chapter 1: Brain Stew

**:Chapter One- Brain Stew:**

"_**The clock is laughing in my face**__**. **____**A crooked spine,**____**My sense dulled**__**. **__**Passed the point of delirium.**____**On my own... Here we go."**___**Brain Stew ~Green Day.**

Curiously, the first thing he noticed when he awoke from his slumber was the midnight sky above him. He stared at the stars, with a strange sense of longing. As if something that once had been his was now a part of them. It was only when he attempted to reach out for the dark heavens that he noticed a further few things.

For one, he was indeed blue. A strange mix of baby and sky shades, which was now illuminated by the bright moon. And for some odd reason, that was not normal.

The second thing that he also noticed (which too, was out of the ordinary) was that he was that for reasons which he couldn't quite remember, the whole of his body was in unbearable, searing pain.

And for some reason, he couldn't quite guess what was worse. The fact that he was in such a state or the fact that he couldn't remember absolutely anything. Apart from the fact that having blue skin was unnatural, that was the only thing he was truly sure of. It was as if the words 'blue=freak' were imprinted into his skull. And it stung for some reason, not like the ache that he felt throughout the rest of his body (which was blue as well-as far as he could tell of what the ripped shreds of dark clothing were revealing to him.).

He felt a bitter pang race through him, and chest tighten slightly. He sniffed quietly as he felt something warm and rather wet run down his cheek. Subconsciously, brought his hand to wipe the liquid which seemed to be emanating from his eyes, wincing a tad from the pain it brought him.

_Tears? _A shudder ran though him.

He felt hopeless. Defeated. And strangely, he didn't even know if he had been defeated or...

Well, the soreness around him was evidence of his loss.

_But who? _Confused thoughts fluttered around his brain like butterflies. _Why? _

_How long have I been like this? Hours? Days? Am I even alive?_

He couldn't even remember who had done this to him. All his brain could muster on the subject was an angry yellow-red colour. _Orange? _It felt fiery, just thinking about it.

_Got to get up. _A small voice at the back of his head was now deciding to pester him; _you need to find yourself some shelter, food and water. You can't stay here if you want to survive._

He licked his dry lips. He suddenly realised that he was desperately thirsty, and cold.

"Okay, a-annoying voice at the back of my head... Let's see if I can do this..." He muttered to himself.

Hearing his own voice felt good, however, he couldn't help but to take note of how raspy and weak it seemed. He clutched the ground with both hands, and pushed his back off of the ground. A squelching noise made him want to retch as he noticed that he had been lying down in thick, wet mud. More hot tears flowed down as he tried to bite his lip, everything hurt more than ever.

He took another look at his body, and almost yelped in surprise.

Cuts, bruises and grazes, absolutely everywhere.

His clothing had managed to endure surprisingly from its anonymous beating. However, all the torn pieces which showed off his flesh, illustrated the hacks of tissue which had been forced apart. Dried blood had seeped out, and was now surrounding the area of these cuts.

_Okay... Don't freak out. _He soothed himself. _Get up. Maybe you can find someone to help you.._

However, that was easier said than done. As he tried yet again to lift his body to a standing position, pain shot up his right leg.

This time, he couldn't hold the scream inside of his lungs _"AAAH!"_

His body clumsily fell down. _Augh. Back to square one._

His eyes scanned around the reeds. _There's got to be something that could help me up around here..._

"Aha!" He smiled.

Finally! Some luck! A stick!

He reached out for it; however, as he grabbed hold of it, he noticed something strange about its texture. It was cold, and much too hard to be a piece of a tree. Upon examining it a little more closely, he noted its different colour. It reflected the moonlight, gleaming. It was hard to explain, but he knew that this was a better find than wood.

_What is a metallic component such as this one doing in the middle of a field? _His eyebrows furrowed as he pondered over the mysterious object. _Oh well, I'd better count this as a blessing. It'll provide me with better support, anyway. _

He drove the support into the ground, and used it to clamber up. Groaning, he brought himself to his feet. And although it hurt... _A lot, _he felt pleased with himself for managing to overcome his pain.

_It's not over yet... _He reminded himself as he took in his surroundings. For miles, he could see nothing but tall reeds covering the otherwise barren landscape. Far, far away, he could see hints of a forest, however, he was sure it would take hours, if not days to reach there. And even if he did go in that direction, how would he know if there was civilization nearby? If there was anyone who could, _or would _help him?

No, there had to be somewhere else. Something closer and livelier. A settlement, perhaps? Maybe he should go past the forest? Or turn around.

He nearly gasped as he took in a gander. Behind him was a colossal city, however, that sheer grandness of the city wasn't what had shocked him. No, for some reason, he seemed to know the City itself. The thing which was now frightening was what had happened to the City.

Buildings seemed ruined. Signed from unnatural fire and some were even missing rooftops and walls. The most miserable part had to be a massive structure, which had almost been 'cut' in half. Glowing and roaring fire surrounded the tarnished metropolis.

And he felt somewhat responsible for it.

_Did I do this? _He felt like crying again, _W...What happened?_

Angry, bitter rage was building up inside of him. Somehow, he knew that this place wasn't supposed to be like this. Somehow, he knew that he was involved, and he felt great sorrow for what had become of the City before him.

He needed to go in, as something inside him told him that the answers to who he was were locked inside this twisted, burning wreckage. And for now, that's all he needed.

Answers.

(TBC...)

**A/N: Hey, guys!**

**Erm, yeah. I'm starting another fic whilst I'm working on 'Intelligent by Design'. Not good.**

**But I really like what I've got for this so far! I'll try to update both fics regularly.**

**Please R&R, I'd really like to know what you people think! ^-^**

**~Scooter.**


	2. Chapter 2: Set the Fire to the Third Bar

**:Chapter Two- ****Set The Fire To The Third Bar****:**

"**Their words mostly noises****, ****Ghosts with just voices.****Your words in my memory...****Are like music to me**_**." Set the fire to the Third Bar ~ Snow Patrol**_

Roxanne slowly pulled the thin sheet over her tired body. Sighing, she tried to barricade the horrors she called memories of the past 48 hours. Loud echoes of various people who had also been evacuated out of their own homes rang around the halls of the shelter.

It turned out that she had escaped just in time; as about an hour after her leave, Hal (or Tighten, as he had now declared) had crashed into her apartment, and rumour had it, blown it apart, in case she was still inside.

It shocked her to the core to think that Hal, her rather creepy, but talented cameraman wanted her dead. The Hal she knew was never a murderer, nor did he ever seem... Evil! Well, he never seemed to be the type; however, from what she had heard he apparently had killed Megamind without batting an eyelash. And celebrated doing so by completely destroying Metro Tower.

She couldn't believe Megamind was dead. Yes, he had lied to her, but now she had to live with the fact that the last, hateful words she had spoken to him were of rejection. Her heart felt like shattering as an image of his heartbroken face, desperate for her forgiveness, came into her mind.

"_Did you ever think I would be with __**you**__?"_

"_...No."_

How she hadn't realised that it was him the whole time was a complete mystery. Everything made sense now. His toxic green eyes, which were impossibly bright for any human iris. His much above average reading rate (_"I was taught to speed read early on in my childhood!")_... The whole scene at his lair finally made sense ('too fantastic'? _Really?_).

She couldn't deny it. It seemed rather stupid, but she honestly couldn't deny it one bit. She missed him. She missed his wit, his charm... The way he had made her laugh, even when she had thought that the City was in turmoil. She had fallen in love with him. Yes, it had broken her heart to find out that the man she had been dating for the past few weeks was the Metro City's resident supervillain/evil overlord. However, it soon had come to her that the reason why she was mad at him was not for him being who he was, it was for the fact that he had lied to her for the whole time.

First she lost Wayne, someone she had never been that much attached to; however, he had been her friend for a long, long time. She'd seen him transform from a cocky and frankly annoying teen, into the sworn protector of the City. The thought that he could die one day had never come up. She, like most citizens had assumed that he was immortal or something and never paid any attention to what would happen if he one day somehow managed to die.

She remembered seeing the skeleton of the charred hero land a few feet from her. It was as if reality finally crashed upon her on that one moment. The web of security that Wayne had spun around the City had been torn apart, and there was nothing she could do about it.

And it was only now that she realised that the two people who had cared about her all this time were gone. Permanently. And although she thought she'd never say it, but she was already missing the kidnappings, the banter and... Well everything.

She had missed it when Wayne had died, but now that both of them had vanished from her life... The sorrow was overbearing her heart.

"Ugh." She sighed as she clutched the blanket tightly, shifting a little. She wasn't all that cold, but she felt emotionally drained and the sheer uncomfortableness of the flat 'mattress' she had been provided with wasn't exactly helping her rest.

She was thankful, of course, and knew that there would be many people tonight who were without food or shelter.

Everything had changed, but she had to learn to adapt. She had to move on, and get through this mess as quickly as she could. Just like she had done when her father died from that fatal heart disease, about twenty years ago.

She could still remember walking home from school with her sister, and finding the house completely empty. She had been eight at the time, and although young, she had always been the one to stick her nose into everything that was going on around her.

"_Dani? Where is mom?" She asked, nudging her elder sister._

"_I-I don't know, why don't you go into the kitchen? Maybe she's left a note or something. She's never done this before..."_

They had both waited for hours and hours. When neither her father, nor her mother turned up that evening, both had gotten extremely concerned. Danielle had called the eldest sibling, Roger, on the landline to tell him of their mother's absence after putting Roxanne to bed.

Roxanne had remembered snooping out of her bed, going to get a glass of water. She had been rather shocked to see her sister, Dani, the toughest girl in the neighbourhood softly crying.

"_Dani? Why are you crying?"_

"_R..Roxanne. What are you doing a-awake? I thought I told you to go to sleep."_

"_I came down to get something to drink."_

"_Oh."_

Roxanne still remembered the warmth that she felt when she had curled up on the couch next to her sister and spent the whole night pretty much hugging her until she felt asleep. Her mother had come home the very next day, and told everyone the news of her husband dying.

It had been the very first time Roxanne had really felt a lot of sorrow in her life and after that, it all seemed to go downhill. She missed how close both her and Danielle had been, after school had ended for Dani, she'd moved away, and unfortunately, Roxanne hadn't had the chance to see her for a very, very long time.

Roxanne's eyes felt suddenly very tired. And with the last few thoughts of her longing, she finally lost consciousness, and fell into a deep slumber.

(**Meanwhile...**)

He had waded through the reeds for what seemed like hours, and was finally ready to collapse.

_Just a little bit more... _He tried to motivate himself. _I can't give up now..._

Everything hurt, more than ever. The cuts stung, his muscles ached, and with every shaky, limped step, it was harder to move.

The metal that he had clutched onto had proven to be vital, as he was now putting all of his weight on it.

_Got to keep going... Can't give up..._

His legs gave away. Crying out loud, half in pain, half in shock, he felt his body hit the ground with a 'thud'.

The world spun around him once more, and he felt a sick dizziness.

"Maybe if I find some cover or something..." His voice seemed scarily weak and quiet, even when its only rival was the crackle of fire from the City nearby.

What had he been thinking, trying to walk to that place with all these injuries? He had worn himself out completely. His desire for answers completely overshadowing his more 'sensible' thoughts, thoughts of survival and planning on what to do next.

And even if he somehow did manage to reach the City, what could he do? What would he do? The only thing he really knew was that somehow, he'd unlock something from his past. And as important as that seemed, he was lost. Directionless.

What if the hunch he had was wrong? What if the alight City revealed nothing to him? All that walking... Nothing...

"No." He reminded himself "I shan't doubt myself. Not now. I can't afford to let my thoughts cloud over reality."

And with that, he began to notice the orange glow filtrate across the sky. _Is the fire spreading?_ A scared thought ran through him, he turned his head and almost sighed with relief. _Of course not. Just the sunrise. How long have I been trekking for, anyway?_

He slowly brought himself up again, propping his body up with the metal stick. Everything still hurt like hell, but his spirit was somewhat refreshed. He knew that he had to keep going, at least for a bit more. Using the metal 'crutch' as support once more, he resumed his extremely slow pace, when suddenly, something caught his eye.

It was a small house. It looked rather old, from its crumbling wooden frame and it's worn out paint. It had a plain white door, above it were a simple clock and a faded sign that read out "Lil' Gifted School for Lil' Kids."

There was a strange sense of familiarity about the place. As if he had been there before. He looked back at the burning settlement and thought for a second. Was this place deserted? Could he rest there for at least until he was able to walk again?

_It certainly looks like nobody's been there for a while._ He thought, _I doubt anyone would let their house get to such a state. And who knows, if I find this place familiar, then it may hold something of my past._

He stepped tentatively towards the small residence, his feet rustling though the thick undergrowth as he did so. Yes, this seemed like a good idea, heck, maybe this could be his house. It certainly held something of a sentimental memory to him, even if he was unsure of what that memory was.

As he got closer, he noticed a dirt track, cutting through the field.

_So, this place isn't as inhabited as I thought… _

He reached the door, ready to collapse in exhaustion. If he hadn't been as physically fit as currently he was, he probably would have done an hour ago. Cautiously, he stepped inside.

The place reminded him of a generic schoolhouse, complete with desks, books and even a vividly doodled-in chalkboard. But what was he to expect with the name this place had?

A mysterious sudden sense of dread filled him. As if he had intruded this place. He began to have second-thoughts about entering this place. He quickly shook these out "No, no, no… It's f-fine. This place is deserted."

But why had he sensed this place as so familiar beforehand? If this 'schoolhouse' was remotely dangerous, or if he experienced something bad here, why had he not remembered, and told himself to stay away?  
>"This is all so confusing!" He sighed, clutching his forehead.<p>

_Might as well explore this place… _He decided, clutching the heaviest item he could carry in his other hand (his left hand was still grasping onto the metal support) for protection (a miniature chair) in case this place wasn't as inhabited as he thought.

He decided that his main goal was to look for drinkable water. He was already parched, and although he had noticed that the schoolhouse was standing at the near edge of a cliff (_dangerously close to falling off_- he had noted), there seemed to be a vast ocean of water behind it (not suitable for drinking, but he was sure that he could work something out).

He opened a door on the other side of the classroom, expecting to see yet another room. He was however met with a small staircase. Curiously, he walked down.

_This doesn't seem very normal... A cellar, perhaps? _

It was almost pitch dark; however, he could see that at the end of the short corridor in front of him, a few cracks of light were shedding into the room. He guessed that this was another door, and was right.

It only took him a push to open the door, and as he did so, his mouth let out a audible gasp. _  
><em>Even with his tired eyes, he was impressed. More than impressed, he was leaning slightly more to being amazed. So amazed, that he nearly dropped the plastic chair.

In front of him was a grand room, with marble flooring and a overhanging chandelier. Various ornaments and busts were carefully placed around a room, giving the place a museum-like feel. There were also many paintings on the walls, however the strange thing was, that all seemed to be of the same middle-aged man. He had jet black hair, a somewhat large and square chin and pale blue eyes. In every painting, he seemed to either wear a 'heroic' grin, or pose in a somewhat triumphant pose.

As nice as all this was, it suddenly scared him. He was suddenly becoming more and more frightened that this was infact somebody's home.

_...But why reside in a place of teaching?_

He heard a shuffle behind him, and in a panicked frenzy, blindly swung out the chair in attempt to hit whatever, _or whoever, _was there.

"AAAGH!"

Sure enough, he hit _something, _but he had hit so hard that the chair had practically smashed into pieces and the sheer force of impact caused him to fall over.

Adrenaline surged through him as he heard pieces of plastic impact with the floor, blocking out his pain. However, his blood ran cold as he heard a somewhat baritone voice (strangely nervous, too) quietly whisper _"Megamind?..."_

He craned his neck to see a ridiculously muscled man behind him; his face bore a shocked and relatively scared look. He wore no more than a white bathrobe, which (_thankfully_) covered most of his body.

_Do I know this man? _He was practically paralyzed with fright.

"You're all hurt and cut and... _Your clothes_..._Blood_...What the _heck_ happened to you?"

And it was exactly that moment that fatigue took over and everything suddenly turned to darkness.

(TBC...)

**A/N: Angst is so fun to write with Roxanne. So, yeah... I've decided to give her some back-story (as we didn't get much about her past from the film-not that we really needed to. I just thought it would be interesting to play around with such a strong character's back-story.)**

**Why does the image of a scared Megs casually swinging a plastic chair around make me laugh so much? **

**You don't find it funny?**

**...**

**Oh, fine . Be like that. **

**I kid, I kid. I hope that some of you are beginning to put this more into contest (I got a couple of questions on when exactly this is set. It's meant to be a bit of a mystery at the moment). **

**Thanks so much for the feedback! I really do try to respond to everyone's comments, and I'm very happy to know that you people like this so much already! **

**Thanks, everyone! *hugs***

**Please tell me what you think! **

**Thank You ^-^**

**~Scooter.**


	3. Chapter 3: How to save a Life

**:Chapter Three- How to save a Life:**

"_**Where did I go wrong? I lost a friend, somewhere along in the bitterness. And I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life." **_**How to save a life~ The Fray.**

Flinching a little, Minion walked into the lair. Upon entering his home, he had awakened a few of the BrainBots which had gone under half-hibernation. His mind had been clouded with a mixture of worry, fear and anger. Well, clouded was a little more than an understatement- More like fogged to the point of nothing being visible.

No matter what Tighten or the news people said, he would not be convinced that 'Sir' was dead. He did not know how, or why, but it was as if he could feel it in his endoskeletal fish bones that Megamind had not been murdered. He was just out there... Somewhere.

The fish sighed as he found the storage compartment for his food. _If only I hadn't walked out on him on that day... All this would never have happened. _

Of course he had seen the live television coverage of the battle between his master and his newest project, 'Tighten'. Well, the battle had been so spontaneous; the coverage quality had been extremely mediocre, including clips of film which passers-by had managed to nab with their phones.

Everything had seemed to go to plan in the beginning; the ginger 'hero' had chased Megamind around the City; the whole thing mostly being a game of cat and mouse, from what he had seen. However, according to the news reports, somehow, something went wrong with the battle suit. The stories had varied from one another, but it was obvious that there had been some sort of crash and collision, causing an explosion and...

Well, that had been the last anyone had heard of Megamind.

Tighten quickly seized control over the city over the following few days, causing huge fires and destroying buildings with his powers. The City's defences had no chance against him, and had even struggled to get everyone evacuated. Thankfully, the fires hadn't spread as far as the evil lair, but Minion knew that he was putting himself into serious danger by even looking for his master, let alone actually staying within the City itself.

He had tried to deploy some Brainbots to help him search around at first, but they had all been brutally smashed if they somehow managed to catch Tighten's eye. And as foolish as it was to go out, practically into the 'frontline', putting his life into such severe danger with hopes of finding his lifelong friend when the chances of him being alive were so very low, he had no choice but to do it.

He was quite literally his master's 'Minion'. And whilst some thought it was strange, silly or _wrong,_ Minion knew that it was his sworn duty to protect Megamind with his life, and he no longer cared about the risk of himself getting killed by sneaking into as far as he could go in downtown Metro City.

He no longer cared about Tighten, who would most probably murder him on the spot.

And he no longer cared about the flames which were still destroying the City with their licks of death.

He accepted the risk, and knew that the possible consequences of him going in were. But, by gum, if it meant that there was a chance, _even a very, tiny chance, _that Megamind was alive...

Well, all this 'danger' would be worth it.

He wearily sighed as he prodded his food. He already knew that it would remain uneaten, as he hadn't quite been able to swallow anything since he had fought with his boss. Even his favourite, specially-made fish flakes, imported from Alaska didn't improve his appetite.

If he hadn't been submerged in water, one might have said that he was crying. Because that's what he felt like doing. Crying.

Gazing at his reflection, he sighed. His eyes were dark, and tired; with circles underneath and around them, proof of his dreamless nights. His mouth which was typically in a happy-go-lucky smile, was now giving off a worn down frown.

Even his gorilla suit wasn't in best shape. It was no longer polished and shiny. _More like rusted and grimy, _He sighed. His stance was still a little uneven because of the burnt sole of his mechanic foot had melted down a little from getting a little too close to the heat of the embers of a collapsed building.

And the question was... Why?

Why had Megamind's new project gone wrong and turned 'evil'? What had gone wrong? Last time Minion had checked, he was nothing but gung-ho about all the hero business. Had Megamind said something wrong? Had he seen through the disguise?

Nevertheless, the frightening glares and looks of absolute glee the superpowered villain had given as he destroyed his residence chilled Minion to the bone. There was no-one left to stop him. No Metroman, Megamind...

Hell, he wasn't even sure if Miss. Ritchie was still alive. Despite the fact that it had been over her that he had had an argument with his lifelong friend, he had no quarrel with her. He respected the reporter and somewhat admired her above-average intellectuality. He hoped that she had made it out alive, especially when the apartment she had lived in had been pretty much blown up.

Minion walked to put the food back where it belonged. His boss had made sure of that there was enough food, drink and other necessities to keep both alive for at least a year in the sound-proof underground shelter (just in case anything between him and Metroman ever went awry).

He had decided to stay in the shelter for time's being. It was probably the safest part of the City at the very moment in time. In the worst case, there was an escape chute which either lead to the coast or a tunnel which went all the way out of the city.

Minion didn't dare to think about what he would do if he never found his friend. He simply tried to concentrate on trying to somehow locate Megamind. Then, he would think about the future, with the very alien he was assigned to protect.

Yes, that plan was satisfactory. If he ever found the said alien.

(TBC...)

**A/N: I hope that the picture is clearing up a little, now. If you really don't understand when all this happened in the film, then please, PM me. I've been getting quite a few people asking me, and as much as I love responding and talking to you all, answering the same thing over and over again is getting a little tedious .**

**I apologise for the miserable shortness of this chapter, however, it's more or less dedicated to Minion. Because Minion needs more love. **

**Poor fish has been literally running around in THE DAMN CITY WHICH IS ON FIRE, trying to look for Megs. Now, that's dedication. **

**I promise, promise, promise that the nest chapter will be a tad longer. It's just that not that much happens in this one, and it's more of a description of how things have been happening on Minion's half of the story. **

**Please bear with me, and STAY TUNED! :D**

**~Scooter.**


	4. Chapter 4: Waking Up

**:Chapter Four-Waking up:**

"_**One step to calm the storm inside you, unlock the secrets in your head. Not another day, no more-confusion, no more living like we're dead." ~Waking up- Julien K.**_

He had been suffering from a restless sleep, plagued by mysterious, dark dreams which seemed to haunt him from the very depths of his imagination. These images; memories, perhaps? They seemed to be strangely whacky, of strange contraptions and machines. What were they to him? Were they memories of what he had seen previously? Or were they just ideas? Hallucinations?

He had no idea. However, as he woke up with a gasp, he still could not bring himself to memorize what had happened before last night. Hell, he even had difficulty bringing up what had happened before he had fallen asleep. He had been so very tired, and even now, his body felt fatigued.

One name stood out.

Just one.

It was like a magic word. It was special. Something he felt like he needed to cling onto.

_Roxanne._

_No. I can't focus on weird things from my head. I've got to find out what's going on right here, right now._

He couldn't bring up how he had gotten to the bed he now lay in. Or how he had gained the bandages and plasters which covered the cuts he received. He remembered entering a house for shelter and brushing through the room, ready to fall and then…

"_Megamind?"_

Who was he? Why had the man called him '_Megamind'_?

Did he look like this unusually named fellow? Did he know the man who had called him so? It certainly seemed that the bloke recognised him.

Startled, he looked around the room in which he was in. The classy and elegant white and gold colour scheme made him feel very much out of place. Suspicious thoughts sent shivers down his spine. _Am I in danger?_ He questioned himself, inspecting the bandages.

He had been wrapped up pretty well, the cuts which had been covered no longer seemed to have mud in them or bleed, which was probably a good thing. And although he reeked of disinfectant, he felt much better than he had done previously. Most of his clothes had been removed, leaving him only in his underwear and a plain, but rather baggy white shirt.

Had the scruffy man who seemed to reside in this glorious underground palace patched him up? If so, why? Had he done it out of kindness? Considering that he had tried to brutally damage the guy with a plastic chair, it seemed somewhat strange and alarmingly suspicious.

Laying down and not doing anything suddenly seemed terribly tedious. He felt like exploring the place, and looking for anything that would give responses to his questions about his previous life. He carefully lifted the warm bed sheet off and pushed it down to the end of the bed. Ever-so-slowly, he brought his pale blue foot down and followed it with his other.

As soon as he laid pressure on it a searing pain abruptly spread through the right leg.

He bit his lip to avoid making a noise; he didn't want anyone to know that he was awake.

_I forgot about that. _He thought as the hurt subsided a little, _does this mean that I can't walk? I managed yesterday, but only with a support…_

He glanced around to see if he could find the metal component he had used to aid his trudge through the fields, but couldn't find it. He grew worried by this, as it meant that he wasn't mobile.

_If this place is dangerous, I can't escape…_

He heard a noise from outside; subtle steps on the marble floor, slowly growing louder. Briskly he lay back down on the comfortable mattress and threw the blanket over, closing his eyes.

Opening his eyes a crack, he saw a figure walking into the room. Agitatedly, he shifted over to the side, pretending to roll as if he was asleep. He inhaled sharply as he anticipated the coming steps closer and closer, and got the mental image of a shark circling a boat on a wide, wide sea, getting nearer every second, ready to attack…

"You're awake, aren't you?"

He thought that his heartbeat couldn't get quicker, nevertheless, now it felt like the beating muscle had burst out of his chest. Cringing a little, his eyes slowly opened to see the large man from yesterday, his beard still rather unkempt, but was now wearing casual jeans and a loose, blue sweater.

"Are you worried or something? It's not like you're in trouble. I was wondering if you'd be up soon, you've been out for a few days now."

_A __**few days! **_He suddenly shot up.

"Are you okay?" The man asked "I know you're... Severely injured, but I wasn't expecting you to suddenly turn into a mute. Come on, where's the banter?"

He was speechless. _Banter? What's he on about? _

The muscular fellow sat down on the bed, his face suddenly in a dark frown "I guess you're angry with me."

_No, I'm not. At least I don't think so. Should I be angry with you?_

"Hey, it's okay. I mean, I'd be mad at me too. I guess I owe you an explanation."

_An explanation? Erm… Okay. Go on._

"I guess you're wondering why I'm alive. Well, it's a bit of a long story. It takes back to the day of my museum opening; you see, my head wasn't in the game on that day. I was tired, and you had your plan. Something about a 'death ray'…"

The fellow went on to explain to what seemed to be an event that had happened some time ago. He included a few strange details, such as 'super-speed' (Was that… Ordinary? It didn't seem so, to him at least. The man said it casually, so he decided it to be so).

"Metroman was finally dead… And Music Man was born!"

The guy stared at him expectantly, his bright blue eyes shining. It was as if he was awaiting his opinion or something.

_What should I say? I don't know this guy. Is the fact that he's made everyone think that he's dead good or bad? Is he waiting me to congratulate him or something?_

"…You don't want to talk to me… Do you? Well, that… That's okay! It's fine. I guess I wouldn't talk to me either. I mean, considering I'm like your 'worst enemy' and… Well. I thought that maybe we could like friends now. You know, everyone thinks we're both dead…"

_Wait… __**WHAT! **_

"Hey, you haven't eaten for a couple of days...-"

"I'm sorry," He finally spoke up, his voice rather strained "But who are you?"

There was a small silence, and then the man gave an awkward laugh "Hah, good one. I would've thought that if anyone, you'd be the one to see through my newly gained beard and hairstyle. Come on, buddy... Don't play these games."

However, he didn't join in with the uncomfortable chuckles, and instead chose to give the man a hard stare. Another silence.

His eyes widened "Y...You 'aint kidding?"

"No."

"Oh..." The man's expression grew to a rather worried look, somewhat panic-stricken. " What happened to you? Did you get concussion or something when you got beaten up? Who did this to you, Megamind?"

"I... I don't know. I'm not sure what's going on or..." he began "Who is this Megamind person, anyway?"

His jaw dropped open as he stood up. "No. Oh God. No, no, no." He began muttering, silently "This can't be happening. You aren't serious are you? Oh- God. Have you... Do you remember anything?"

"I'm sorry. Do I know you, or anything? Like, have we met before?"

He seemed to have fallen into a shock induced trance for a few seconds. He quickly looked up and briskly said "I'm sorry. Erm... Wow. I... really didn't expect this. I knew something was up when I found you in my house, looking like you'd just been mauled by a bear, but... Jesus..."

There was an air of disbelief and shock about him. He opened his mouth a couple of times, but closed it, as if he was wondering what to say next. He swallowed a little, and ended up with going "Hey, look. I made s-some coffee, why don't we... Discuss this situation in the kitchen, huh? It's a bit awkward here, and maybe we can get some food in your stomach."

He nodded slowly. Yes, his stomach ached from hunger; eating something would refresh him, and make him feel a little better.

"Thank You... Sorry, what's your name again?"

"Oh. I'm... Well, used to be Metroman... I'm more or less known professionally as Music Man. Just call me Wayne."

"Okay. Thank you... Wayne."

Wayne flashed him a smile, and replied "Anything for a... Friend? Well, to be honest, our relationship is best defined as 'mortal enemies' by the public."

He allowed himself to weakly laugh, but ended up coughing a little instead "I think I'm a little sick..." He muttered

"You had a bit of a fever, earlier on. It took a while to settle it down. Come on, I'm sure some coffee will do the trick."

He replied with a slow nod. _Maybe I should tell him that I've got a bad foot? _He thought as he once again removed the blanket, and stepped off the bed.

"You okay?" Wayne asked

"N-Yeah. Yeah, don't worry. Everything is alright. My... Muscles still hurt a bit..."

Giving the man a 'thumbs-up', he attempted to stand up, but cried out and fell to the hard floor.

"Oh Crap!" Wayne exclaimed as he saw his 'guest' wince in pain as he lay on the floor "Megamind! Are you okay?"

Through gritted teeth, he replied "I think so. It's just my right foot, there's something wrong with it. Every time I try to apply some sort of pressure on it, it hurts like hell."

"Here. Let me pick you up."

_Pick me up? That's not what I really had in mind. _

"No need for that. I-I just need something to hold on to."

The unkempt man still looked worried, and as he held out his hand "How the hell did you manage to even walk over here?"

He pulled himself up, using the ex-hero's arm as his new prop up "I... I don't even know myself. I found a support and... Just walked."

Wayne saw the look of pain quickly flash across the blue alien's face "Hey, Megamind. Buddy. You're okay now. You're here. Safe."

"So you say. Why should I trust you? If you're supposedly my 'nemesis', what's stopping you from hurting me?"

Wayne thought for a minute as he set the injured villain back onto the bed "Well, for one, I don't hurt people." He stated "And two, you're a part of _my _past, Megamind. And no matter how many convoluted schemes you've made to kill me, nothing will change that."

He bit his lip. He felt rather sorry for being so un-trustworthy of someone who was really trying to help him. But, whilst this man, Wayne, seemed to have a history with him, he knew nothing about it. He'd never seen him in his life, and to suddenly find out that he had known someone since he had been a newborn was overwhelming.

"I'm just going to see what's up with your foot."

"You're a doctor? I thought you said something about being a musician." He asked, curiously.

"Not really. I was a boy scout when I was a little younger, learnt how to build fires and stuff. They taught me the very basics, like how to clean cuts and how to put on band-aids and stuff. I never actually thought it would come in useful, until a few days ago."

"Oh." He mused for a second. _Wayne the boy scout, huh? I could almost see that. _"So, anything visibly wrong with my leg?"

Wayne whistled "Sorry, man. This is actually quite serious; your ankle looks really swollen, dark purple, even. I think that walking didn't do much good for it either."

"Well, that's not very good, is it?"

"You could say that again. I'd take you to Metro City hospital, but you've seen what's going on out there. I think our family's private doctors have fled the city area, so I'm not sure if I can exactly contact them. I'll try though."

"So, what am I going to do if I can't walk?"

Wayne shrugged "Until I can get someone to take a proper look at your ankle, I'm afraid you'll have to stay put. But hey, if it makes it any better, I'll tell you everything I know about you. Maybe we'll get your amnesia sorted on the way, huh?"

"Yeah. That sounds... Great..." He couldn't hide his disappointment very well.

"Look, I'll bring some stuff for you to eat. On a tray."

Before he left the room, a thought came to the alien's head. It had been puzzling him ever since he had first woken up in the middle of a field.

"Hey, Wayne!"

"Yeah?"

"Why the hell am I blue?"

(TBC...)

**A/N: Phew! Told you I'd have a longer chapter! Ha!  
>More speech, too, which I'm quite pleased about.<strong>

**So, we've got some interaction with our amnesiac-Megs and post-hero Wayne!**

**And I'm sorry, but I can totally see mini-MetroMan as a boy scout.**

**I'm just sayin' **

**Please tell me what you think! XD**

**See you all soon!**

**~Scooter.**


	5. Chapter 5: Kiss and Control

**:Chapter Five-Kiss and Control:**

"_**Part your lips a bit more; **__**I'll swallow your fear. **__**I will show you how, all the bite marks impress. **__**A need to be here, **__**a need to see..." Kiss and Control~ AFI.**_

A lonely figure stood on the pointed roof a sky scraper, his appearance had a mirage-like blurriness to it, probably an illusion caused by the dancing flames below him. The figure gazed proudly at his on-doing, however, that pride was outshined by sheer boredom.

Out of his rage, he, the most feared (and most recent) supervillain, had destroyed this City. He was now its ruler, with no other inhabitants.

And that was the problem.

His plan was to burn Metro City to the ground, and build his own City, Tightenville, from its ashes. But how was he meant to build his new kingdom with no other inhabitants? He had no servants, no workers, no allies... Everyone had been evacuated or something. He'd foolishly let them escape from his clutches when he should have kept them prisoner. He was a king with no-one left to rule about. The thought of all this power but no-one to use it upon was driving him insane.

He groaned angrily and he paced about the rooftop, thinking of what to do next. And then, it suddenly came to him.

He'd have to corral up some people from nearby Cities, maybe even evacuees if he found out where they had all gone to. Force them all to work for him, with threats of death and torture. Yes, he liked that. Maybe he could find someone he didn't like, someone who annoyed him, and show the people what would happen to them if they dared to defy him with a bit of a demonstration

A grin spread over his face. Yes, yes! That was great! Fantastic, even. He could have anything he wanted, as long as he played his cards right. He needed to strike real fear into the public's hearts, and declare himself the ruler. He'd get fame, respect, chicks...

All the things he never really had when he'd been Hal Stewart.

Especially the women. No matter how hard he tried, he'd never get anyone's number. People sometimes told him to think realistically, and go for others more 'in his league'. He couldn't help wanting the crème of the crop! It was only natural for him to have a desire for the hotter ladies!

But no matter how damned nice he was, or how much he tried to appeal to the opposite gender, nobody would even give him a second glance! It drove him mad to think that Roxanne, the very woman he'd been trying to score a date with ever since he'd began his job as a cameraman, had decided to ditch him, and go off with some evil alien! Was he really that unappealing?

He knew he hadn't killed her. He hadn't found her body when he'd gone through her apartment, which had angered him so much; he'd smashed the whole building apart with his bare, superpowered hands.

Well, if she loved the 'bad boys' so much, then so be it.

"Am I **bad **enough yet, Roxanne?" He yelled out loud, but of course, nobody heard him.

She had done this all to him. She had been the match that ignited the raged inferno within him. If she had accepted him, he'd be happy. He'd look after the City, and maybe, if he was bothered, play the 'hero' game for a bit. He'd love her to bits, and he'd be the perfect replacement for Metroman.

But, no!

No, no, no, no, no, **NO!**

She just had to go off with some ALIEN!

**AN ALIEN! **

He could understand her wanting somebody high-class, somebody who was popular and rich. Metroman always appeared a bit dubious to him, but at least their relationship kind of made sense. He was a rich guy, with cool powers and who did a lot of good stuff for the society.

But... AN ALIEN!

No! That was just gross! It was like having a relationship with an animal! Practically dirty!

"There should be laws against it." He snarled to himself as he kicked a chunk of the roof off the building.

He watched it fall down and drown in the frenzied flames. The smoke didn't rise all the way to the tops of the tall buildings, and although both fire and smoke didn't affect him, he didn't like going through it. Because of his super-senses, his sense of smell was now much better than of an ordinary human (Well, so were all his other senses-his eyesight especially) and it made him gag.

" 'Can't wait until the place is finished burning down." He sighed to himself.

On the first few days he had been stuck listening to various people screaming as they tried to get out of their nearly burnt down houses. At first he'd been much too angry to care, but after the third day, he'd grown tired of it. It was annoying as hell, and people soon grew silent as they learnt that he killed anyone he'd come across (Yes, that had been a bad decision to make when he now learnt that he actually wanted to keep them alive). Either that or they'd all been slayed by flames.

He should have saved them. He could have, but now it was too late. Whilst people were frantically trying to escape their houses, he was etching his name onto the ground with his newly gained Lazervision. He simply couldn't be bothered to play the hero- Too much work.

However, killing the alien freak had felt weird. Like, super weird.

He'd been so angry, so goddamned furious. And yet... There was a strange wave of remorse when the smoke of the explosion of the strange mechanical suit he had been wearing cleared down. Metallic components of the mechanical structure spread far and wide around the City, and although he never saw Megamind's corpse, he was sure that the villain was dead_. Nothing could have survived that. _

However, the remorse was short-lived, as another feeling crept over him. He no longer had to be the hero. It had been space-dad, who had told him that it was his 'destiny', and now space-dad, Megamind, was gone; he felt that the burden had been lifted.

He had superpowers, which nobody else in the world possessed (Well, Metroman had them, but he was gone, as well). And he could do whatever he wished. Oh, life was suddenly so sweet.

Almost as sugary as revenge.

For the first time in his life, people had instantly drawn to him, congratulating him for defeating the menace that had somewhat turned Metro City upside down. He should have taken their praise, and gone along with it all just then.

But no, his thirst for destruction overpowered his judgement. Oh, it made him laugh in a way most bizarre when he thought about how joyous the people had been when they thought that they'd gained another protector. Oh, the looks on their faces were priceless as he picked up the mayor (who had been most grateful) and flicked him down onto the pavement. It was just too good.

Interestingly enough, he'd met with a few of the blue twerp's robot dogs. He didn't think much of them, but when he learnt that the nasty things could bite (and he wasn't kidding, they had the very jaws of steel!), he'd given them all the same fate that he gave to the people he had the pleasure of meeting.

He jumped up and flew upwards, away from the fumes which were now spreading. It was only then when he realised how much suburban settlement there was on the outskirts of the region.

"Shit. I'm gonna need more gasoline." He murmured.

Well, there was a gas station near the docks. Yeah, he'd go there next, burn down a few of the ware-houses.

But now it was time to play some video games.

(TBC...)

**A/N: I felt like we needed a bit of Tighten chilling out in his own City.**

**I mean, the fic **_**IS **_**called Tightenville! XD**

**Oh dear, Hal. Aren't you a petty thing?**

**I actually loved him in the film. Even though he decided to be a total douche and casually destroy Metro City at the end. I still found his awkwardness hilarious, I loved the look Roxanne gave him when he asked her out on a date right after MetroMan 'died'. It was all like 'DO NOT WANT!'**

**By the way, I love the response this has been getting! I've been trying to reply to everyone. I love reading reviews! Each and every one of them all makes me happy! C: **

**Okay, well. I'll try to update this ASAP!**

**~Scooter.**


	6. Chapter 6: The Good Left Undone

**:Chapter Six- The Good left Undone: TBC**

"_**But I know... **____**Not a day goes by that I don't feel this burn.**____**There's a point we pass from which we can't return, I felt the cold rain of the coming storm..." The Good Left Undone ~Rise Against **_

There now three things he was sure of:

For one, his name was infact 'Megamind'.

Two, he was an alien (and although he didn't look the part, Wayne was, too).

And three, he had been blue for quite a while. Ever since Wayne could remember, anyway; which pretty much dated back to his origin. He took it safe to say that he'd been born blue, and was most probably going to stay that way.

He fiddled with the old photo Wayne had given to him to have a look at. It had been taken within the school, as it was a class photo. However some things in the picture struck as quite unusual to him.

Because of it being a class photo, it included a group of children. Curiously, almost all who seemed to be one the left hand side of the photo. Within the picture, two children seemed to stand out. From the left; one, who was in the middle of group, had his arms around the youngsters next to him.

Although it was only a picture, the young man practically screamed confidence. He bore a charismatic grin and the two kids he had his arms around looked as if they were grateful that he'd chosen to let them sit next to him.

The other thing he noted about the picture was another boy; however, he was much different.

Different was an understatement, actually. The boy stood nervously and alone at the right hand side of the faded photo. He wore a bright orange jumpsuit over what seemed to be a stick-thin body, and interestingly enough, was holding a ball with what seemed to be a fish within it.

And oh yes, he was blue.

Megamind glanced again at his own hand, and then at the photo.

"_Here, take this." Wayne had smiled, pointing down at the photograph "This is me as a kid. And that's, uh, you." _

_Megamind looked surprised at first, and then changed his expression into a thoughtful frown "I had a huge head." He finally stated as-a-matter-of-factly._

_Wayne stared at the villain for a second, and then snorted a little with laughter. The blue man's eyebrows shot up, as he bit his lip. _

"_Oh, Gosh. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't laugh. You've somehow forgotten what you look like, haven't you?"_

_Megamind nodded. "I'll be right back, let me bring my shaving mirror." Wayne promised._

The miniature mirror now lay next to him. Yes, he had been in quite a shock upon seeing his reflection. With his blue skin, he wasn't sure quite what he'd look like; however, he sure as hell didn't expect to see...

Well, he hadn't quite expected to see 'himself'.

The first things he noticed were his brilliant, toxic green eyes, which stared back at him as his own pair widened with shock. There were several cuts around his face, and a subtle violet blush had crept up his cheeks. Apart from his dark goatee and eyebrows, he had no hair atop his head.

His head was rather... different, too. Like in the photo, it seemed to be disproportionately big for his body.

"_Oh..." He gasped as for the first time, he saw himself staring back._

_It took a second for Wayne to register why the alien was so suddenly distressed. _

"_Oh god, Megamind I'm sorry... I-I... Oh damn. I should've said something..."_

"_Should have said what! 'Oh, Megamind. I'm sorry; I forgot to mention, you look like a __**complete freak'**__!__**"**_

_The more humanoid alien stared at him with an apologetic face, shocked from Megamind's outburst. _

"_...You don't look like a freak." _

"_Oh, that's rich! Coming from the 'normal' looking alien! I look ridiculous!"_

_Megamind threw the mirror down and pulled the blanket over his head. The ex-hero stayed silent as he looked at the covered blue villain._

"_Megamind..."_

_No sound. _

"_Hey, buddy..."_

_Something along the lines of a muffled 'go away' emanated from underneath the bed sheet._

"_Oh Dang-Flabbit. Megamind, please, listen to me." Metroman sighed "You've always been so proud of yourself, blue skin and all. So, the way you're acting is... Really weird, to be honest. But you look like... You."_

_There was another moment of stillness. "So much for motivation," Wayne groaned "I 'aint very good at this. Look, buddy, unless you're going to talk to me, I'm going to go and see if I can get in touch with a doctor. I'm sorry if what you... Looked like shocked you. But, you accepted it when you still had your memory, and I suggest you accept it too. Everybody's got something they don't like about themselves, but there's always somebody who likes them for who they are."_

_And with that, he left the room._

Megamind was now listening to Wayne on the phone. From what he could hear, Wayne seemed to be negotiating for a 'brief check-up', going as far as offering a _very large _sum of money.

_God, by the way I acted just now, I can't believe he's going as far as he is to get me help._

He stared at the picture again. It seemed as if the children were treating him like a disease, and trying to stay as far away from him as they could. The fish he held still confused him. Why was he holding such an unusual looking creature? Was he the owner of the fish?

If he was, he couldn't remember the thing at all. The green-yellow pisces looked up at him expectantly with its round eyes. Where was the fish now? Was it even alive?

"I swear, for every answer I get, two more questions appear." He grumbled.

He looked into the mirror again, ashamed of himself for acting up. Aside from the scarring, he didn't look... _That_ freaky. One might even say that in a very unusual way he looked rather... Cool.

_And plus, if Wayne judged me on my looks, he would have thrown me out, and I could've died. _

But it was so difficult to accept what he looked like at the moment. He hadn't even thought about his appearance, except for question his skin colour. He had expected himself to look like...

A normal person.

_Whatever __**that**__ looked like..._

But if his looks hadn't concerned him up to this point, then why should they matter so much now? Surely, if he'd managed to survive for so far looking like he did now, he'd be able to live with it.

_Not much of a chance of finding a mate, though._

Oh well, he could always clone himself. Megamind junior? It sounded plausible enough.

_Wait. Since when do I know to how to clone things? Or how to build a successful cloning machine for that matter?_

And then it came to him. He'd need some genetic material, an egg cell to fertilize with said material, a compartment for the foetus to develop in, and for that he'd need a glass storage place...

_No, no, no! This is ridiculous! Why do I know how to do all this stuff? It seems ridiculously advanced!_

And yet, he just knew that he had the ability to construct every single invention that was simultaneously popping into his cranium. It all seemed so simple...

Suddenly, Wayne walked into the room "Oh, Megamind! You're... Not hiding anymore! Good, because I've got great news! I've managed to get one of the best doctors in Metro City to come over! He said he'd try to get here as fast as he could, although because of the... Current situation, it would take him a day or two to get himself here."

Megamind flashed him a genuine smile "That's... Really, really good! Thank you, Wayne."

"Hey, man. It's okay. We needed to find you some help, pronto. The fact that I managed to get such a good guy in was just the icing on the cake. I'm just glad to see that you're feeling better. It's sad to see you so... Blue."

_Oh, damn. _

However, Wayne was glad to see the humoured glint in his eyes as the villain replied.

"Interesting choice of words."

"Heh. I'd say. Do you want anything else? You ate a lot, but I've still got a lot of stuff left over in case you're still hungry."

Megamind looked thoughtfully "If it isn't too much trouble for you, could you please get me some more coffee."

Wayne nodded, "Anything for you, man."

_I'm just happy to see him not freaking out. I probably shouldn't think too badly of that, I mean, I'd be pretty shocked if I woke up and found out that I was... A blue alien. Hah, well, I admire his positivity._ _It would take me quite a while to get over something like that._

But then a more doubtful thought came into his mind.

_Maybe he's just keeping it all inside, though. Maybe he doesn't want to appear weak and is putting a 'brave face' on. It would make sense, considering his background, he probably never let himself look like he's weak and although he's lost his memory, it has become a second personality to him..._

_But, if that's true... Then I'm the one who's caused him to have that mentality. Oh God, Megamind..._

"Wayne?"

His regretful thoughts were suddenly interrupted. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay? You kinda just stopped there and started looking all sad."

He stared at the curious blue alien. He was already worried about him, although it had been just a couple of hours since he'd truly 'met' Wayne.

He possessed such a creative imagination, such a happy, positive and bright personality...

It had been him, Wayne, who'd forced him to become a villain, when he could have done so much good for the world.

_No, never again... _

Why had he never given the alien a chance? His gaze flickered to the photo, where he saw himself in the middle of all those happy school children.

_Oh yeah. I was too busy impressing everyone._

He couldn't let Megamind know that he had been a supervillain. No; for the first time ever, he was going to let the alien's ideas flourish for the greater good. He wouldn't bear to let him know of his true past.

"I'm fine." He did the best grin he could muster. "I'll be right back."

_You've finally got a fresh start, Megamind. _He decided. _And I'm not going to let anyone ruin it for you. _

_I owe this to you. _

(TBC...)

**A/N: Yay! More Megs! :D**

**Oh dear, Metroman. I doubt its any good for you to keep stuff like that away from Megamind D: **

**Not to give anything away, buuuuut...**

**Those secrets? Yeah, they almost always seem to fail.**

**Well, I guess we'll let Murphy's Law go ahead and do it's thing! ;D**

**Thanks for the reviews, guys! I love talking to you all 3**

**Keep on rockin'.**

**~Scooter. **


	7. Chapter 7: Sober

**:Chapter Seven- Sober:**

"I'm safe, up high. Nothing can touch me. But why do I feel this party's over? No pain, inside. You're like protection. How do I feel this good sober? __**Sober, p!nk**

"_**Roxanne! Oh God, Roxanne! Wake up!"**_

"Huh?" Cerulean eyes flickered open.

The reporter looked up to see the half-annoyed, half-concerned face of Gilda, the first 'friend' she had made at the shelter. The older woman sighed wearily as she notified her, "You were screaming again."

"Oh. Did anyone notice?"

"DID _ANYONE_ NOTICE?- Oh Roxanne, darling. _No, no, no_. Don't you worry your pretty little head. You only managed to wake pretty EVERYONE who was asleep. And judging by the fact that it's about two O' Clock in the morning, I do believe that that includes about ninety-nine percent of us."

Roxanne's cheeks reddened slightly as her eyes wandered around the section of the shelter. Curious people, although now getting used to her loud 'nightmare induced' shouts, were peeking over to see what the commotion had been about.

"Sorry, guys!" She called out "You can go back to sleep, now."

Grumbles of annoyance shook through the room as various people turned their heads down onto their pillows. The brunette couldn't help but to sigh as she shifted the blanket a little.

"So, are you going to tell us what's going on with you, yet?"

Roxanne gave her a look. As much she was a motivator and gave the best advice, Gilda could be annoying and rather temperamental. "I thought I told you, I'd rather not discuss it."

"Damn. I was hoping to find out who this 'Bernard' was."

Roxanne choked up a bit "B-Bernard? When did I say anything about him!"

"Girl, 'saying' is a few decibels too quiet. Anyway, come on. Get up."

"What?"

Gilda ran her hand through her dirty-blonde locks as she rolled her eyes "The deal we made? Remember? If you woke up screaming again, you'd let me take you to the doctors. Now get up, I'm taking you to the infirmary unit."

Roxanne shook her head "Gilda, no. Look, I'll get over this. And the doctors have enough casualties on their hands, I'm not even sick, so why should I turn myself into a burden for them? "

"Roxanne, this is the _fifth_ time! You've been telling me that you're still 'getting over it', but it's been getting worse. Screaming in the middle of the night on a re-occurring basis is not normal! And because you're not telling me what's up, I've got no choice but to get you some professional help."

"What are they going to do, though?" Roxanne replied, "Give me paracetamol to ease some mental pain? I don't think so."

"I don't know, but they've gotta be able to help you. This has to stop, hun. You've been disturbing everyone's sleep, and I don't think it's fair on them."

"I'm _so_ glad you care about me." Roxanne yawned as she lifted her body off the mattress.

"I do. I just don't like getting woken up by your bloody blaring."

(Later)

They had been unlucky, as the doctors had told them that there were no 'psychologists' on site. This came to Roxanne as a relief, as she had been beginning to doubt how exactly to describe what was going on. Clearly, she couldn't just go around saying that she had been dating the now-deceased supervillain for the past month or so. It seemed ridiculous. Nobody would believe her.

Well, except for the people who had witnessed her 'discovery' in that restaurant.

Roxanne stared at the ground. She didn't want help, but a part of her knew that she had to do something to help herself. Megamind was gone, taking his 'Bernard' persona with him, but... She felt haunted by him. It was as if something inside of her was begging her to doubt his death.

There was a small knock on the door of the confined, office-like room and Roxanne quickly shot up.

A somewhat 'gruff' voice called out "Excuse me, Miss. Roxanne Ritchie?"

"Hello?" Roxanne answered, confused. _Who could that be? He sounds a bit familiar..._

The door opened slightly to reveal an elderly man, wearing a rather matted blazer. He had gray hair, and a thick ivory moustache which seemed to be glued above his upper lip. His ocean blue eyes glinted with worry as he brushed into the room.

"I heard that you were moved here." He finally spoke "You remember me, right? I'm the Warden from-"

"Jonathan Farmer, warden from the Metro City prison for the Criminally Gifted, right?" Roxanne spoke up, "I remember you from when I tried to interview Megamind a few years ago."

"The one and only." He smiled sadly as he straightened his tie a little "You have remarkable memory, Miss. Ritchie. It has certainly been a while."

"It has." She returned the smile "So, what brings you here?"

"Well, the City I live in has just been destroyed, the _'missus_ took off to her cousin's house until I can find us somewhere to live, and I had to see if I could find somewhere more permanent than their bus for the prisoners to stay in before something goes wrong. I was just talkin' with the people who run this place when I saw you being... 'Relocated'. Care to explain?"

Roxanne gave a small sigh "I haven't been sleeping very well, lately. Apparently I sleep talk a bit more loudly than most people like, so the doctors moved me here until I get 'better'."

"Sounds like you don't think you're gonna get better."

"I am. I know I am." Roxanne replied, looking out of the window, "I'm just having a bit of trouble letting go of... Something."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I let myself get close to someone to whom I thought I knew. Turns out I was wrong about them. That's all."

There was a small silence between the two. Roxanne stared at the ground. _Should I tell him what's going on? At the moment, he's probably the only person who'd understand..._

"You miss him, don't you?"

Roxanne looked up at him "Who? Metroman? Yeah, I mean he was-"

"Not him. Megamind."

The reporter had to stop her jaw from dropping. Was she really that easy to read, or was the warden suddenly a psychic? Shrugging a little, she replied "I guess so. It's... complicated."

"He was very fond of you, you know."

_Oh, you have __**no**__ idea. _Roxanne almost smiled "I can't believe he's gone. After all these years, all these kidnappings... I-I guess I kinda wanted to say goodbye at least."

"I know the feeling. Megamind was living in my prison before he could walk." He said quietly, Roxanne caught his voice softly breaking. "Almost everyone there knew him, loved him. He was somewhat of a legend to them."

"Oh..."

"I watched him transform right before my eyes. As a kid... He wasn't that bad. He sure as hell was smart, smarter than any of us, even at that age. But then, he somehow changed. It was as if, one day, he came back from his school and decided to be... Well, bad.

"It all went downhill from there. He got kicked out of his elementary school because he... Set off an explosion, and refused to partake in any other schooling. We even got home-tutors in, but nothing worked. Then, he started to create more and more of his 'inventions'. And then, a few years later, he escaped."

"Escaped?"

"He ran away from his cell in the middle of the night. He didn't get far that time, managed to catch him well before he reached down-town. But, it wasn't quite the same after that. Afterwards, he got better at it, and soon, the only way we managed to get him back was when he got his blue ass hauled back into jail by Metroman. His 'evil schemes' to take over Metro City began soon after, and... Well, you out of all people should know the rest."

"Well, I must say, I'm a little shocked. I've been doing a bit of... Research on Megamind quite recently, and although most say that he grew up in prison... None of them actually said that he changed like that. A few of them just say that he was determined on being evil from when he was born. Heck, I've even found a website which states that he was created by some scientist in Bulgaria to take over the world."

"Hah! Lies, Miss. Ritchie. Complete lies. You take a look at some of the stuff he wanted to build as a kid, and you'll see that there was no evil behind it. At least not back then."

Roxanne nodded; taking the information in, and then asked "I wonder if we're ever going to be able to live in Metro City ever again."

"Oh, come on, darlin'. I'm sure someone will stand up to that superpowered doofus. Someone always does."  
><em>That's what I told Megamind at the Museum... Before he blew it up. <em>

Suddenly the loud jingle of a ringtone filled the silence in the room. "I'm sorry." The warden sighed as he fished the mobile out of his pocket.

_Why did Megamind turn evil, though? _Roxanne thought as she watched the man answer the phone. _He certainly didn't seem to be evil when he was Bernard. Quite the opposite, really. Even when he kidnapped me, he always made sure that I never got hurt. Actually, I don't think anyone ever did get hurt on purpose..._

_Except Wayne. _

"For God's sakes, Tazer him!" The gray-haired man screeched into the cellular phone, "We can't afford any of them to get away! Do you realise what kind of uproar it would cause amongst the prisoners if that happened? They'd go crazy! And the last thing we need is a bunch of hyperactive criminals all huddled up in one bus."

He groaned as he hung up on the phone "I'm sorry, Miss. Ritchie. There's a bit of a situation going on back at the bus, and I really need to go as soon as I can. I'm not sure if I'm going to see you again, so I'm afraid I'm going to have to wish you a good-bye."

"Bye." Roxanne nodded, "Thanks for visiting, at least."

He stopped at the door and turned around "No problem at all, Miss. Ritchie. It was nice to talk to someone."

And with that, he ran out of the door. The brunette's light smile turned into a sad frown.

She had to get away from the shelter soon; it felt like the place was draining her of motivation to do anything. All these depressed people, desperate to manage to carry on living even though their homes were ruined... She didn't want to become one of them. But, where would she go? It seemed to be safe to guess that her job at KMCP 8 was nonexistent. She hadn't been able to contact her boss or any of her co-workers since the Metro City's 'take over' had begun.

_I could see if I can get in touch with Dani or Roger. I'm sure that one of them would take me in out of 'sibling love'. _

She reached out for the small sedative tablet the doctors had told her to have if she yet had trouble sleeping. She stared at the small white tablet before putting it back down. _I'm pretty tired, I doubt I'm really going to need one of these to fall asleep._

"I'll do something tomorrow." She sighed, settling back down onto the new bed.

_At least, I can rest in peace here._ She thought as she slowly closed her eyes.

(TBC...)

**A/N: So, Roxanne has quite literally been staying at the shelter and not really doing anything. **

**UNTIL NOW! **

**I was glad I could somehow get the Warden in. He's a nice character to work with, and I hope I managed to somehow keep his...' Warden-ess' in. XD**

**Sorry for the wait! Homework takes its toll, ya know .**

**Oh well, I hope I can get the next chapter out sooner than this.**

**Thanks for reading, now, GO! And tell me watcha think! XD**

**Cya!**

**~Scooter. **

.


	8. Chapter 8: New Design

**:Chapter Eight- New Design:**

"_**Wait, **__**I **__**might **__**hesitate, **__**am **__**I **__**a **__**minute **__**too **__**late? **__**Please **__**Lord, **__**I **__**need **__**to **__**know. **__**This **__**pressure's **__**got **__**me **__**letting **__**go. **__**If **__**I'm **__**wrong, **__**will **__**I **__**still **__**carry **__**on **__**and **__**end **__**up **__**where **__**I **__**belong? **__**I've **__**never **__**felt **__**this **__**way **__**before .**__**I've **__**never **__**come **__**so **__**close; **__**I've **__**never **__**worn **__**so **__**thin. **__**I'm **__**steeping **__**out **__**instead **__**of **__**closing **__**in. **__**I **__**left **__**myself **__**behind **__**when **__**I **__**made **__**up **__**my **__**mind. **__**No **__**turning **__**back **__**this **__**time, **__**this **__**is **__**my **__**new **__**design.**__**"~ New design, Thousand Foot Krutch. **_

Even with the whole City in destruction, the fish didn't feel like it was an excuse to keep the lair unclean. Sweeping the floors of the lair, he hummed a quiet tune to keep himself… Well, sane.

Living completely on his own (with the exception of various robot canines, of course) felt strange. Almost as if he himself was becoming one with the ghost town. It was eerily quiet, the very breaker of the silence were the never ending 'humm's and 'whirrs' of his robotic suit, as well as the occasional drops of water from various breaks in pipes.

Although the lair had its own backup generator, the quite recent lack power electricity in the City was worrying him slightly. He had barely managed to get the television or radio working, let alone some kind of Wi-Fi signal to keep him connected with the internet.

He hardly let himself read the online news articles. He had never been very fond of tabloids because of what they had said about Sir, and although was more than slightly curious of what had been happening outside of the wrecked City, he couldn't let himself read the predictions of what was to happen the Metro City next.

Because the smog and fumes of the fires had spread so far around, he had decided to turn off some of the functions of his suit which allowed him to smell whenever he went out. He was slightly concerned that because of a small malfunction this also stopped the function which allowed him to hear properly, but he figured that it was better not having to smell the vile smoke whilst he searched.

He suddenly stilled as his gaze flicked over a picture which was hanging on the wall in front of him. Regretful thoughts quickly washed over him as the image which consisted of both him and his boss whilst he was in his teens, was registered by his brain.

His eyes widened slightly as sorrow quickly took over. _ How could I let this happen...? _He gulped. _How could I desert him? Why couldn't I bring myself to accept what he was doing with Miss. Ritchie? _

He remembered what he had felt at that moment. He had been worried both for his boss and the reporter. He had known even back then that Sir dating Miss. Ritchie was wrong and was somewhat concerned for both. But there had been something else there, too. Envy, perhaps? For the past few weeks, Megamind had been so very busy with 'training' his new hero and dating his newly gained 'partner'...

He had spent hardly any time talking with the fish.

The Pisces almost jumped as the broom he had been holding crashed onto the floor. _ Typical, _he thought as he bent down to pick it up. _I seriously need to control my clumsiness._

As he picked up the sweep, something caught his eye. Underneath the couch, there seemed to be a somewhat ominous light blue glow. Curiously, Minion shifted towards the couch to get a better look at what was the source of the glow, but on second thought, decided to pick the whole couch up.

Upon lifting the buckskin sofa, a gasp emanated from his mouth. It was a de-hydrated cube. One of Megamind's, which must've been lying underneath the leather settee for goodness knows how long, probably collecting a load of dust. The fish wondered what it could be, a strange sense of anticipation unravelling within him, much to the likeness of a child opening a Christmas gift.

_Better late than never, _He thought as his lips curved into a small smile, the first one he'd had in a couple weeks. He flicked the radiant cube a little in order to get rid of some dust, then clambered to his feet and walked to the kitchen.

He resumed humming as the water from the reserve tap filled the cup, however, this time; it was a rather tuneless thing. More like notes from his vocal chords which he was sounding just to make sure he could still speak. How long had it been since he'd last spoken properly to a 'real' person?

He stepped towards the table where he'd left the waterless cube. What could it be? Some more food? Some garbage Sir had somehow managed to get into the lair after 'cleaning' the streets up? He had no idea what to expect.

However, what he completely never would have expected was a person.

Rather 'crazy' chocolate-brown hair covered the top of his head; however, not his face. A somewhat wind-blown style, some may have said. He had relatively high cheekbones, accompanied with a chin smidgeon on the 'pointy' side.

He wore a loose coffee-brown blazer, with a vibrant blue shirt underneath. He wore neat, cream-beige pants which accentuated the blazer to give a formal but classy look.

The short brunette man gave a gasp as he somewhat 'materialised'. There was a brief air of silence as Minion's jaw dropped a little. The russet-brown haired man clutched his forehead for a second, and rubbed his eyes behind his thinly rimmed glasses. He then looked at Minion, then at the walls of the lair that surrounded him, and proceeded to stare back at the fish.

He fiddled with his glasses a little, squinting with his brown eyes; and then he began to scream.

"**WHAT THE FUCK! WHERE THE HELL AM I! OHMYGOD! HOLY SHIT. WHERE? WHAT?"**

"P-Please, mister. Calm down..." The Pisces tried to soothe and hold the man down.

This however seemed to have quite the opposite effect as the brunette immediately jumped up and shakily tried to back away. Nevertheless, after a quick step or two, he stumbled and fell back down.

Minion, who was already trying to catch up, briskly walked over and asked, "Are you okay, mister?"

He looked up, "Stay away from me!"

"I'm not going to hurt you. I'm here to help. Now, please keep calm and try to remember-"

And he was off again. Minion rolled his autumn brown eyes and sped up after the frightened man, who was now calling for help at the very top of his lungs. As he did so, he awoke a few of the hibernating Brainbots who, after Megamind had programmed them to 'recognise' him when he was in his 'Bernard' disguise (he had not wanted a repeat of the incident with the reporter in the lair), thought they recognised 'daddy' and joyfully floated after him.

Even they had somewhat registered Minion's current anxiety levels, and the disappearance of their creator had made them confused, so they were extra happy to see their father back.

However, due to their playful nature, they felt obliged to crowd around their 'daddy' and bark rather joyously. Actions which unsuspecting people often found... Threatening.

The auburn curator screamed even louder as he noticed that he was indeed being chased by the robot canines. At full pelt, he aimlessly charged around from one section of the lair to the next.

Minion defeatedly jogged around the old warehouse. Where had the man gone? He needed to find him as quickly as he could. He tried to listen to his frantic shouting for was coming from, and tried to walk in the direction. However, before long, a 'clang' echoed through the dark lair, accompanied by a yelp of pain. The shrieks themselves subsided, but another, more desperate yell was heard.

"**OH GOD! PLEASE! SOMEBODY! HELP ME! AAAAAGHHHH!"**

With a gasp, Minion quickened his pace and soon found the crowd of Brainbots happily swarming the man, who had presumably tripped over. He was waving his hands over his face to try keep them away, however, the Brainbots somehow assumed that this was a (slightly confusing) new game, and did not back away.

"Shoo!" Minion cried out, "What do you think you're doing?"

The Brainbots cautiously floated away, ashamed.

"What did daddy tell you about attacking guests? It isn't allowed in this evil household! Intruders, yes. Guests, **no**. Got it?"

Majority of the Brainbots yapped in agreement.

"Good." Minion nodded, turning to the terrified man, "Are you okay? Did the Brainbots hurt you in any sort of way?"

The man looked around for a second, and then finally said "You're his...Mi-Minion fish, aren't you?...I'm here, aren't I? In the... i-infamous 'evil lair'..."

Minion was impressed. Hardly anyone (with the exception of Miss. Ritchie) had ever been in the lair itself, let alone recognise it entirely from the interior. He himself had chosen to lurk amongst the shadows and not exactly get into the public eye, as this meant that he could help his boss get out of jail. How did this man know who he was?

"Yeah." Minion muttered, "You are. Are you in pain or anything? I mean the Brainbots can get a bit... Jumpy at times."

The man ignored the question yet again, replacing it with his own, "Am I... Have I been kidnapped?"

Minion was about to say 'no', but then realised he wasn't all too sure what to say. Had Megamind kidnapped the man a while ago for some random purpose, and just decided to not re-hydrate the poor chap, or simply lost him underneath the couch? The sofa _had _been there for quite a while, and Megamind had owned the de-gun since childhood. He would have estimated that the man could have been in the block-like state for a number of years, but then remembered that he had washed the floors not too long ago.

"I have no idea." He finally admitted, "What's the last thing you can remember?"

"I was at work, about to close up... I think..." He stuttered "And then... There was this really bad cosplayer. A Megamind cosplayer. Yeah that's it. "

"Oh..." Minion shifted a little. "Do you remember what day it was?"

"Can't exactly remember. I feel a little light headed." He replied rubbing his forehead. "Could have been Thursday, or Friday... Whatever. Boss still wanted me to come into work when hardly anyone was gonna visit the museum after Megamind took over."

Minion almost sighed in relief. _So he hasn't been here for too long. _

_Still. Sir took aver about a month ago. What would he want to do with this guy, unless... Oh. The 'cosplayer'._

"So, erm... Did you say anything to this cosplayer guy?"

He almost chuckled "Well, of course! I mean, not to _brag_ or anything, but I am kind of Metro City's leading expert on Megamind. Whenever I see a crappy costume like that, I've got to comment on it."

"And, did it ever occur to you that... That may have been the _real _Megamind?"

The man opened his mouth to retort, but then closed it. "He even had a model of the de-hydration gun... Oh God. But!... He couldn't have been the real deal!

Minion folded his robotic arms, "Well, Sir isn't... Here... Right now. So, I... Erm... What are you doing?"

"Looking for my phone." The brunette replied, hands in his blazer pockets," I need to, you know, get home."

"I'm sorry, but... I really don't think you can go home right now..."

The man stopped rummaging through his blazer, and looked up at Minion. "W-What do you mean?"

"There's... Something going on at Metro City... I... erm, wouldn't suggest going out..."

He looked a little shocked for a second, but then rolled his eyes and remarked "Come on. There's always something going on there. As a citizen of Metro City for a number of years, I seriously doubt that _anything_ this City has to throw at me will be that shocking."

Minion gave an awkward frown "No, mister... I really, _really _don't think you should go out."

The brunette raised an eyebrow at the fish and after giving his suit a brief dust, replied "Where's the door? I'm leaving."

"If you're so sure." Minion glanced around the room, and then shrugged in defeat. "I guess I have to show you." He sighed.

He lead the man to the hologram 'door'. There was an awkward silence as both of them brushed through the lair. Minion was surprised that the man hadn't asked many questions about him, like most people did when they saw a talking space-piranha in a mechanical gorilla suit.

_Maybe he's just the quiet type. _Minion pondered, _He did say that he was Metro City's expert on Sir... I guess he just knows about me._

"Here, just walk through the wall. It's a hologram, you see."

"Clever."

Minion gave a small grin as he waved his robotic hand through it, and watched it disappear in a flash of electric blue light "Yup. Erm... Do you know your way home, and everything? I'd offer you a lift in the invisible car, buuut... It may be a bit difficult getting home as the city's on fir-"

"I'll get a cab back." He finally said as he pushed Minion aside and walked through the wall.

Minion watched his 'guest' get engulfed by the bright blue light.

The lair suddenly became quieter than ever. The pisces sighed as he turned around to get back to cleaning.

He had almost lost hope in his search of his master. He had decided to give it three more days until leaving the lair; tomorrow, he was going to go look for him high and low. He was going to set foot into the inferno infested wreckage of the once-been grand metropolis, and scour as deep as he could.

This grief, it was destroying him. Every day, he would imagine finding his boss' dead body somewhere, and every day he had to work harder and harder to push the image out of his mind.

_No, no, **no! **I'm going to go out tomorrow, and I am going to find him! Dead or alive, he has to be out there... Somewhere._

He took a few steps forward, when he heard a noise behind him. Minion quickly turned around to find the brunette straggling in. His brown eyes wide with panic and disbelief he gasped "The Buildings! They're all broken! The fire! What's happened?... _Ugh_."

And so, Minion found the limp body of the now-fainted young man, in his robotic arms.

"_Blimey..."_

(TBC...)

**A/N: Sorry, partners! I was a bit pre-occupied all week! Test, tests and more tests had decided to put me behind on my fanfiction work .**

**Oh well, I'm on holiday now! So expect more fanfics and stuff popping up soon!**

**I saw that quite a number of you didn't like the previous chapter very much. Huh, neither did I, to be honest **

**So, I tried my best here to make it a little more exciting! ;D**

**BERNARD. HE'S ALIVE.**

**SWEET JESUS, HE LIVES! :D**

**Erm, yeah. So you heard I liek museum curators ;)**

**Cya! **

**-Scooter. **


	9. Chapter 9: Life Starts Now

**:Chapter Nine- Life Starts Now:**

"_**I hate to see you fall down,**____**I'll pick you up off the ground.**__**  
><strong>__**I've watched the weight of your world come down,**__**  
><strong>__**And now it's your, your chance to move on.**____**Change the way you've lived for so long,**__**  
><strong>__**And find the strength**____**you've had inside all along."**_

_**~ Life Starts Now, Three Days Grace.**_

Dreams seemed to be a new thing for the blue alien. This was quite strange to him, because as far as he knew, most, if not all people had dreams.

Maybe it wasn't the fact that he was dreaming that was new. Maybe it was how more and more vivid and 'real' each dream was becoming every time he let himself drift off to sleep. He could hear every sound with acute precision, from the way his boots crunched on the frozen ground, to the chilling wails of the freezing winds that sped around the haunted landscape of his imagination.

It was what he felt, too; which seemed to be creepily real. The icy cold stung his azure skin, sending shivers down his back. He sensed the wintry air going into his nostrils, as well as the sensation of breathing it out.

It was as if he had gained a new body in this dream world, one that was not injured beyond belief. He was still him, blue skin and all, but with newly gained energy. However, that was now being drained away by the bitter chill.

He wrapped his arms around his body, which was trembling from the lack of heat. Something was urging for him to keep walking, to keep moving through the creepy landscape. It seemed pointless, really, as there seemed to be nothing ahead, but more fog. The sky above him was a gloomy dark gray, he would have suspected it was night, but the lack of stars gave him the other impression.

_This is most strange, _he thought, looking around as he slowly advanced forward. _There's no visible light source; henceforth, it should be pitch black... _

_I seriously couldn't dream somewhere more cheerful, could I? _

It had occurred to him that he was wearing a completely new set of clothes. As new as they were, they didn't seem unfamiliar. Actually, completely the opposite. The black jumpsuit with the electric blue insignia fitted comfortably, as did the (extremely high) popped collar that lead to... A cape?

Unusual, but definitely familiar.

"For heaven's sake! Can't I wake up already?" Megamind gave a frustrated growl.

The wind answered by lashing out with a seemingly sub-zero gust. The alien groaned as he tried to shelter himself from it.

"Okay, okay!" He yelled back, "Fine. I'll keep going!"

The wind immediately stopped.

_What in the world? It seems as if I'm not in control of my subconscious. _

"But, if I'm not in control of my own dream..." He murmured," Then... Who is?"

No answer this time. The alien sighed, and began to continue walking.

_Surely, I should have the capability to manage my own fantasies, even the smallest input. But no, it's as if I've stepped into another world altogether. But why is it so realistic? Has somebody created this place for me, or was it all in my head the whole time? A default world I could live inside my own mind. _

_Unless this place is reality, and what is going on at Wayne's place is a dream. But... Why have I never woken up in this place before, and yet I have done so many at his house. Not to mention, Wayne's house also seems very real, so... _

His philosophical thoughts got interrupted by a gust of the taunting storm, this time it was so strong, it caused him to topple over. He yelped in pain as he hit the frosted-over grass, head first.

His gut wrenched as the wind suddenly swirled around him, almost a vortex. It seemed to be becoming stronger and more aggressive by the second. It was attacking him now, causing him to shield his face with his arms, as his body got tossed around by its sheer force.

"What do you want!" He screamed, blindly lashing for the ground, for something to hold onto.

And then the winds stopped.

Before opening his eyes again, Megamind quickly noticed that the air around him was not freezing. Instead, a warm air, as well as the sweet smell of newly bloomed flowers and freshly cut grass.

"Bernard?" a feminine voice asked with concern.

_Bernard? Who? What?_

His eyes snapped open. For a brief second, he felt extremely disorientated. The sky above him was a mess of green shapes of all shades; these were broken apart by gaps, in which bright light shone through. He then realised that he was laying down underneath a tree.

He brought his hand to his face to rub his eyes, but almost gasped with shock as he did so. His hands... They were human! His clothes, too, had changed (again!). From what he could see, a dark blue sweater, covered by a brown jacket. He felt a somewhat of a weight on his scalp, _Hair? _His heart almost did a loop-de-loop.

As far as he could tell, he was a human. And that seemed to be a quite good thing.

"_BERNARD!"_ The voice shouted at him. The alien briskly turned his head towards the anxious noise.

His breath was nearly taken away by the woman before him. Her thickly lashed, navy blue eyes widened with concern as her hand lifted to brush the auburn bangs which formed around her face ever-so-neatly. She wore a bright yellow polo top which clung around her curvaceous frame.

"Are you okay?" She blinked with those bright eyes, "Sorry about yelling. You kinda spaced out there, and I was getting a little worried."

_What the heck just happened? My dream seems to have... Changed. For the better, hopefully. _The unsure thought bounced around the cranium of the alien. 

"Y-Yeah..." He slowly nodded, "I'm fine."

Her strawberry lips curved into a smile over her lightly dimpled cheeks, Megamind felt himself copying the grin. This person, no... This beautiful lady, who just happened to be lying next to him, was already making the darkness of his nightmare disappear. The only thing he disliked about this scenario was the fact that she thought that he was someone else, but hey, this was his fantasy, and it wasn't as if he was hurting anyone, so why not play along?

"So," She beamed, "It's your turn, remember? You still need to tell me something. Something you've never told anyone."

_Wait... What?_ His eyes widened.

"W...What do you want to know?" He questioned.

"Well... I don't know. A secret from your childhood? A weird out-of-body experience you encountered with your best friend's grandma? Something good, though. We can't become too generic."

_How the hell am I meant to say something about my past... When I can't remember my past?_

"Erm..." he began, "Well-..."

**KABOOOM!**

The thundering roar of an explosion rang through the air. Everything went dark as a cloud of ash and dust spun around the two. Megamind felt her warm arms wrap around him; frightened, seeking his protection. He suddenly realised that he had to get her safe, otherwise...

Well, this was all a dream, wasn't it?

_But why so real? So clear? Why do I value everything as if it wasn't just my imagination? Why does this smoke burn my lungs? If this is a dream, then why am I coughing like crazy? _

"Quick!" he shouted, extending his arm to her as he shakily stood up. "Take my hand! We need to get out of here."

She opened her eyes, but upon taking a gander at his hand, frowned.

"You!"

This reaction confused him, but as he pulled her up, he realised what was causing her to be upset. He was blue... Again.

_It was nice whilst it lasted._

"What? Why... YOU!"

"-cough- No time for that! Come on! Run!-cough—"

Holding her hand, he sprinted through the deadly fog. He had to get her... Them out of this place, before anything else bad happened. He no longer had a direction to run in. He just knew he had to keep on going... To escape. That was his goal.

"O-Oh my God! Look!" She cried out, coughing from the smoke.

The alien took a look back, and nearly stopped in his tracks. Behind him, rising from the very ground itself was a giant wall of fire. He turned around to start running again, but as he took a step or two forwards, a 'beam' shot from the heavens, and a similar barricade of inferno rose from wherever it struck.

_Is this someone's doing?..._

"COME ON! WE NEED TO KEEP GOING!" He yelled as he tried to find a way around the barrier in front of him. And then he realised... He was trapped. The walls of fire was joining up to perform a ring around them.

He felt the hand he was holding suddenly slip from his own.

The woman whom he had tried to get away from all this had fallen to the ground. He crouched down to try pick her up, and to try to get away. But as the flames circled closer and closer, it seemed all he had time to do was to gently pick her body up.

_Please, please, please wake up!_

She was still breathing. Yes, that was good. His heart, already thudding at an over-the-speed limit pace, suddenly kicked into overdrive. Her eyes fluttered for a second, and his spirit jumped with joy. There was still time! He could get her out of here alive!

"_No..." _she coughed, "it's too late..."

"W-What do you mean!" He gasped, "I'll get you out of here, don't worry. We'll make it out of this!-"

"No..." She coughed, "You need to be a hero, Megamind..."

_Oh. She DOES know my name. _"What? Hero?"

"You need to save Metro City."

"We need to get-"

"Save me..."

"Yes, I'll save you! Just-"

"_Save yourself."_

Megamind woke up with a panic stricken look across his face. He took a look at his surroundings, and sighed in relief as he realised that he was now back in his reality. In Wayne's house.

The lights were all off, indicating that it was night, or early morning. _When did I fall asleep, anyway?_ He wondered, as he tried to calm himself down.

He felt hot, and was even drenched with his own sweat. But... Something sent chills down his back as well. It was an uncomfortable sensation, like he was ill...

_Damn! The fever's come back. _He felt an uneasy dryness in his throat. He needed something to drink, but then remembered he was unable to move because of his hurt foot. Not that he'd be very able to manoeuvre himself around, anyway. He felt enormously dizzy, like the room he was in was spinning around him.

_I need help... _

_Wayne?_

Why did that feel so wrong, though? It was as if something was telling him it was wrong, that he should do this on his own. It was almost as if his pride, even whilst he was in such a weak state, was not allowing him to seek aid. Well, aid from his previous 'saviour' anyway.

This was most strange, as Wayne had been helping him pretty much_ survive_ up to this point, providing him both food and shelter. He had never experienced this strange 'conscience' before.

Had something in his latest dream unlocked something new inside of him? Something that had been forgotten until now? What had the relationship been like the two, anyway? Had they been rivals? Was that why he couldn't bring himself to do this?

He needed to swallow his pride, and quick. He wasn't mobile, and whatever suspicions he had about Wayne had to be put to rest. He needed to trust the man for now, and ask questions when he could fend for himself.

A feeble, frail shout was all he could manage.

"_W-Wayne!"_

**TBC...**

**A/N: WHAT IS THIS?**

**AN UPDATE? :O**

**Oh God. EXAMS. EXAMS EVERYWHERE! **

**So, in case you couldn't tell, the chick who was chilling with Megs in his dream was Roxanne. Yes.**

**OMG MEGAMIND'S FEVER RETURNED. 8'( AND ROXANNE... Died? **

**Well, in his mind, anyway. **

**And don't worry! This is going to go somewhere. I promise.**

**Just bear with me. :C**

**~Scooter/**


	10. Chapter 10: Red Alert

**Chapter Ten: Red Alert. **

"_**Red Alert! Red Alert!**_

_**But don't worry!... Don't Panic!**_

_**Aint nothing going on but history, yeah.**_

_**But its alright. Don't panic!"**_

_**Red Alert-Basement Jaxx**_

There was a strange sense of comfort with Roxanne as she woke up in her relocated bedroom. As if her sleep had been the most peaceful and fulfilling rest she'd had in a while. Which was strange, considering how stressed she had previously been.

_Probably something to do with being relocated. _She shrugged._ Might as well make the most of it._

She felt her stomach ache with hunger, and took this as a sign to find herself some breakfast. She quietly tiptoed out of the room, and waltzed across the hall to the food court.

After queuing up for a short while with a plastic tray, she was presented with the almost finished bag of cheap, supermarket brand cereal. Not that she was complaining, it was difficult to fund so many evacuees in such short notice, and she was grateful.

Even when the cereal was hard to chew, and the carbs were the exact opposite of what she wanted.

_Beggars can't be choosers, I suppose._

After finishing and returning the tray to its original place, she returned back to her individual room. Although the peace and quiet was nice, it was now starting to feel like a punishment. As if she was a school-girl who had been suspended.

She glanced at the clock, and was lightly surprised that it was already past early afternoon. The reporter had found a book (some cheesy romance novel, probably the only use for it would be to numb her mind from recent events), but honestly did not feel like reading.

She hopped onto the bed, facing the bland ceiling with a despicable feeling of utter boredom. Roxanne knew deep inside of her that she should be doing something. Anything. Just not laying about here all day.

_But what?_ She quizzed her bored mind. _We've all been advised to stay in here. Going out needs to be observed and accounted. So much hassle._

_Unless… The idea of sneaking out seems fun._

She suddenly shook her head. _God, no. Roxanne, what are you? Ten? Besides, even if I would… Sneak out, what is out there for me? _

Deep blue eyes glanced out of the small window, pushing the blinds out of the way to look out even further. The surroundings seemed nice, a bit of field and spindles around the evacuation hall. There was also a cityscape after the forestland.

However, other than that….

_I'm in the middle of freaking nowhere._

The brunette agitatedly pulled at her tank top, biting her lip.

_I'm going crazy here. People aren't meant to stay inside for 24/7. It can't be healthy. Even if it's not really 'anywhere', it might be nice to just get a breath of fresh air, right?_

**(Meanwhile)**

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope. I'm afraid not."

"So, the police force didn't even _try_ to stand up to this bozo." The ex-curator sipped at the jasmine tea. "They just let it all happen."

"Kind of typical, am I right?" The fish couldn't help but to get the bittersweet comment out.

"Fair enough." Bernard sighed, putting the drink down. "They didn't get off their lazy asses when Megamind struck.

"The police force was never that great at this kind of thing." Minion replied, pausing a little to think. "I… I just don't understand why Mr. Stewart went… Evil? His actions have given the word a new meaning. Why in the world would anyone…. Do this?"

Bernard drowned the tea, and put the empty mug onto the table with force. "You say that he was just a normal person before, right?"

"Well, yes. We weren't even meant to give him powers. He was just there at the wrong place at the wrong time and… Yes. I have no idea what Sir was thinking when he began the project. He said he wanted to give powers to someone who was a good person, someone who would use the powers well… But…"

"But, what?" Bernard enquired. "Surely, if this guy wasn't your man, you could have just taken the powers away before too late."

The fish fidgeted slightly. "That's the thing." He sighed. "I wanted to get rid of Mr. Stewart's powers immediately, but… You should have seen Sir. He was so bent on believing that the Mr. Stewart getting shot was _**destiny**_… I guess I didn't want to offend him and say that he picked… Probably the worst person for the job."

"I don't suppose you had the foresight to see all this happen."

"N-Not at all." Autumn eyes looked down, slightly… Ashamed? "If I knew a-any of this would happen… I never would've let Sir do this."

Bernard shook his head. "Because giving a person fantastic abilities won't screw him the fuck up at all." He muttered. "God dammit. I studied Megamind for God knows how many years, I know he's probably the smartest being on the fucking globe… And… He screws everything up. Unbelievable."

"H-Hey!" Minion suddenly got up, nearly spilling a teacup. "Don't talk about Sir like that! It'd be nice to show some respect. Without him… You could be dead!"

"Bitch, please." The man kept his unimpressed frown. "I appreciate the fact that I'm still alive, but really. Face it, without him, none of us would be in this mess. Majority of this City would be… Unruined."

Minion stared at the man, speechless. Bernard noted this and carried on. "I don't like people. Never have, never will. I'll admit that one of the reasons why I became so passionate and an expert on Megamind was because… He was an alien. Well, so was Metro Man. I studied both eagerly through my superhero studies in College. I know of Megamind's capabilities much more than those of the average public. But… This just seems to be an issue of common sense."

"H-Huh?"

"If you give a man these… Glorious, amazing powers. Well, anything to make him superhuman, not even thinking about Metro Man's fantastic abilities, he's going to go mad. Having powers without the knowledge of the responsibility is surely going to screw a person's head up. I admire Metro Man for not taking the advantage of humanity by being far advanced. For protecting us all rather than… Destroying us. Taking control. All that bullshit. But, hey, he's had the powers all his life. He was stuck with them from birth and was born with the capability to understand how to control himself. This guy, on the other hand, is a human. A bloody evolved _monkey_. It's in our nature, our brains to cause conflict. Especially for men. We want war. We thirst for it."

"You think Sir didn't know that! Yo-"

"Of course. And the fact that he somehow let that slip by him is what gets to me. Why would he give the powers to a person? Metro Man was perfection. He was meant to be. People aren't perfect. People screw everything up. They're greedy, selfish and will abolish all capabilities of 'good' that they have for… Their own personal gain. We're just evolved to behave like that. To survive." He ran a hand through his brunette hair. "It's why I hate people in general. Yes, there are exceptions like my ex-significant other. But fuck it, they seem to go down the toilet, too."

The fish blinked as the man finished his rant.

"I'm finished." Bernard sighed, passing the teacup over. "Thanks a bunch. I… Needed that."

"Uh-uh." Minion nodded. "I'll be right back. I'm just… Going to get this cleaned up, okay?"

"Sure thing, man-… Uh… Fish? It's not like I'm actually going to GO anywhere, is it?"

**(Back at the shelter)**

A somewhat determined smile was spread across Roxanne's lips as she tried to walk towards the reception unseen. As it was there where the entrance/exit happened to be. She walked confidently, swinging her generous hips around as she did so. She had taken a somewhat 'scenic route' around the shelter, to further ensure that she was not seen.

From previous experience, she knew that if you walked with purpose and poise, people would believe that you had something to do, and would not disturb her. Of course, it wasn't going to be likely that she was going to be questioned. The hallway was deserted, and besides, she was free to move around. She just wanted to save time.

That, and she wanted to get there before the receptionist arrived back from her break. As she had found out, the shelter had silly exit hours (almost as silly as the visiting hours at a hospital). She had no idea what they were, and although guessed that three pm was still acceptable, did not want to take chances.

Roxanne's smile grew wider as she found the reception area as tranquil and deserted as the previous corridor.

_Perfect._

The doors leading her way out of the shelter were just there.

In front of her.

_Oh, sweet Jesus, yes._

The great outdoors, merely steps away.

She began to walk out. She was oh-so-close…

"Roxanne! Is that you? Oh. My. God! We all thought you were dead! Oh… Oh! Oh! This is fucking perfect! Such great timing!"

Roxanne turned around with an absolute look of sheer horror to find Mr. Ortega, the KMCP 8 news station manager (aka. Her boss, the one jackass she had hoped to get away from), directly behind her.

"H-Hi… Mr. Ortega…"

"This is great! Fantastic!" He had the trademark voice he used to persuade her to do the 'moneymaker' reports on. The man walked over, his slightly worn out suit noy hiding how tattered he really was. "Oh, Roxanne, darling. You must come with me! Me and the team are just about to get back to Metro to get some areal footage before anyone else can snatch it! Oh! And you, my star, are going to cover it! Come on."

_TBC…_

**A/N: HEY GUYS! MISS ME!**

**NO? **

**What do you mean, NO!**

**I am so sorry. Coursework + coursework = No fic. **

**D;**

**BUT I'M HERE!**

**And I'll tell you, shit is going to turn very real, very soon.**

**Stay tuned, and please R and R! **

**Love you all!**

**-Socks**


	11. Chapter 11: Business of Paper Stars

**Chapter Eleven: Business of Paper Stars**

_**"Save yourself from the thing that you have learned,**_  
><em><strong>Save yourself from all the trust you never earned,<strong>_  
><em><strong>We will all burn from the burning out,<strong>_  
><em><strong>We will all burn from the liar's mouth."<strong>_

**_~Business of Paper Stars, Hawthorne Heights_**

Megamind was in an incomprehensible state which could only be described as comatose. Too tired to keep himself fully awake and alert, however, some part of him kept him from dozing off. He couldn't open his eyes, but knew that Wayne was still in the room; the man had been almost forcing him to drink water. Not that he minded, his fever had gotten terribly high, and even when he was getting all the water he wanted, he still felt like he was in the Sahara.

The ex-hero, on the other hand was worriedly pacing about. Megamind's fever was now at 42 Degrees Centigrade, and that worried him to no end. Obviously, he was not a trained professional or any persons of the sort when it came to medical experience, however, he knew that with normal homo sapiens, a temperature this high could cause damage to the brain. Granted, Megamind was indeed, an alien, but with a brain like his…

Well, there wasn't much to do but to pray he'd hold up until the doctor arrived.

* * *

><p>"Right." The newstation manager gave Roxanne a fearless grin as the helicopter gave a few beginning rotations with its blades before speeding up into a deafening roar of sound. "ARE WE ALL SET TO GO!"<p>

"I THINK SO. WE HAVE ENOUGH FUEL TO GET THERE AND BACK A FEW TIMES OVER." The helicopter pilot yelled back over the noise.

"AWESOME. C'MON, ROXANNE. LET'S GET GOING, SHALL WE?"

The reporter looked around nervously; this wasn't at all like her, to fidget and try to stall the report. But, somehow, she knew there was something wrong with this plan.

"Are you sure this is going to be safe?" She asked, attempting to brush back get bangs, only to get them windswept and all over the place.

"WHAT!" The authoritative man shouted back. "AFRAID I CANNOT HEAR YOU, DARLING. SPEAK UP A BIT, AND GET YOUR PRETTY ASS ON THIS HELICOPTER. NOW."

"I'm trying to ask you if you think that this is safe!"

"WHAT!"

"IS THIS REPORT GOING TO BE SAFE!"

"Oh! Safe!" The station manager finally realized what she was talking about. "Trust me when I say this, darling. Nothing is ever a one hundred percent certainly saf-"

"BUT WE'RE LITERALLY FLYING INTO A BURNING CITY WITH A POWERFUL SUPERVILLAIN IN THERE, UNARMED AND-"

"God, darling!" The man grabbed her arm and loaded her on before she could protest, "No need to shout. Now, listen. You're an on-the-spot reporter. Think of what you've been doing before! You were in the very clutches of a _supervillain_ before."

"But... That was different!"

She was met by a raised brow. "How? If anything, I would've suspected your work that had been going on before the tragic death of Metro Man more dangerous than what we are about to do."

_B-but Megamind was different. He'd never let me get hurt... And both of us always knew that, somehow. Hal, on the other hand..._

Of course, she couldn't bear to let herself tell her boss that she knew Megamind was nothing _that_ scary. Well, by her acts towards him during previous kidnappings had made it slightly obvious, but for some reason, everyone always assumed it was her trying to be 'tough'. The truth at this point just seemed... Pointless and out of place.

Her stomach churned as the copter finally began to fully take off the earth while get boss kept on trying to re-assure her. "Anyway, we're just snatching up some overhead shots of the shit going on there and all you have to do is talk about it. Make it dramatic. You see, what's going on in Metro City is news of the... Well, can't be of the 'decade', because Megamind already called that, but it's big news, Roxanne! Big, big news, and if we can be the first to get the footage directly, then just imagine the positive effects! The ratings, the promotions! People want to know, darling and you, you are the person yelling them, so-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Roxanne waved her hand around dismissively. "I've heard it a thousand tines before, mister. 'Give 'em all you've got, hit them with your best shot.' All that I hear before every report. But... Something doesn't seem all that right to me..."

"Oh, that's just the old nerves! Loosen up, sweetie! Re-_laaax_. Chill! 'Coz every little thing is gonna be all-right!"

"Yeah." The reporter gave up, still unconvinced. "If you say so."

* * *

><p>This was all getting unbearable. As much as he had hated to do so, Wayne had decided to leave the room to clear out his troubled mind.<p>

And to escape the bloodcurdling, frantic screams of the blue alien, who had now decided to start tossing around like mad. So much, that to stop him from continuously flopping off the bed, Wayne had been forced to secure him down with duct-tape.

Out of nowhere had the nightmarish shrieks emanated from, as well as ragged breathing and an even higher temperature.

Nothing of this could be good, and the amnesiac-villain's actions had left him confused and worried. Was Megamind dying? Good God, he hoped not.

The screaming quieted down, as if the alien no-longer had the energy to make the vocal noises. The ex-hero cautiously pushed the door open to stare into the bedroom that _had _been his own just a few days ago. The poor, injured blue man was now un-moving, buried underneath a mound of bedsheets.

Wayne walked back out into the hallway with silent steps, and headed towards the mini-bar kitchen to get himself another whisky.

It was funny how in his hero career, nothing had really scared much. He was pretty invincible on this planet, with weaknesses that although existent, were heavily secret. Before, nothing had really matched up to his physical skill. He hadn't ever been that afraid of death on the whole.

When it came to others, there were usually no deaths involved with his rescues. He'd almost always get people saved on time due to his fantastic super- speed and even if they were hurt, people were to be dumped at the local hospital in less than five minutes. No emotional strings attached, and that was the way he liked it.

But now... He was scared. Scared if the fact that Megamind, one of the closest things in this world he could truly ever call close to friend, the last of his own, blue race was possibly dying and he knew nothing of how to help him.

What was a retired hero to do?

* * *

><p>"I must say, they certainly are something else."<p>

Minion looked at the brunette poking at the Brainbots, who was actually not being sarcastic, despite his apparent usual nature.

"They're so... Organic. Lifelike with their personalities. Just like real puppies."

"I'd say." Minion replied, taking a gander at a pair chasing each other in the far corner of the lair, the glow of their luminous domes illuminating the dark section up. "Sir was rather... Deprived of 'pets' when he was growing up. According to him, I was more of a... Friend? _'Bro'?_ I don't know… Something of the sort."

"Let me guess," Bernard spoke out without even turning around to face the fish. "Because of his lack of pets, he created his own."

"Exactly." Minion nodded. "He couldn't really have a pet when he was living in prison, and although the alligators were an exception (we found them underneath the lair's sewers. Poor things.), the work of having dogs around outweighed the real benefits. They need constant care and affection, and someone to be around the lair for them. What if I somehow got dragged back to prison alongside Sir? Or things went wrong? Not to mention, we needed some kind of helpers, and no offence to canines out there, but dogs probably wouldn't do the trick."

"So, instead you went with machines. Sounds something right out of 'The Terminator'."

"Hah, yes. I suppose so." The fish gave a toothy grin. "But the Brainbots would never try to overthrow Sir."

"Hm..." Bernard nodded, and then asked. "Are they this pleasant with everyone? Seems a little odd, considering every time I saw them on television, they were portrayed as these evil, dangerous things, inducing fear within large crowds."

"You must be referring to the ones used for show." Minion blinked. "They were designed to behave a bit more aggressively. Never to really hurt, though. Just to put on more of a show. Still, although these are of a different model, they don't usually behave so nicely. "

He then paused for a second and continued. "Not at all certain, but I think that Sir may have programmed them to recognize your image."

"You think_?"_

_"_I don't know. He's been doing a lot of stuff without me, not telling me much."

"Oh, really?" The brunette turned around, raising a brow. "I take it that that isn't normal."

The Pisces gave a heavy sigh. "No. He used to tell me everything; back in the day, it was difficult to get him to shut up. Not that I wanted him to. But around after Metro Man died... He started being all secretive. And then when I found out he was dating Miss. Ritchie..."

"Wait... What did you just say?"

"Last time I talked to him, I found out he was dating Miss. Ritchie and I-"

"HAH!" The brunette almost jumped into the air. "I knew it! It was so obvious! Take that, internet! Her and Metro Man, my ass!"

"What are you talking about!" Minion's expression was of shocked confusion.

"Shipping war in the internet. Some article on Metro Man's creepy fansite had a poll and... "

"Spare me the details, please." Minion waved his robotic arms with a dismissive motion. "I really couldn't care less of what the web has to say."

"Fair enough." Bernard mused with a small smile on his lips. "Still, their interactions during some of the recordings of the kidnappings. Obvious flirtation going on."

Minion pulled a face. "You don't say..."

"Mmm. I do." Bernard nodded, and then glanced around as an orange speck reflected on the Brainbot's dome caught his eye. The curator swivelled around to face the large curtain than covered most of the window behind it with an exception of a small middle section.

"God," Bernard murmured, studying the now blazing outdoors. "The fire is really getting close. You sure its safe to stay right here?"

Minion gave a sad groan. "No. By the looks of it, the lair might be joining the party of burning buildings in a matter of a week in the minimum. "

"What do you suppose we do? Can't exactly... Stay here, can we?"

"No." The fish replied with a heartbroken sigh. "I don't want to endanger your life further."

"Can't believe you still believe he's alive. You've looked everywhere, haven't you?"

"Pretty much." Minion slumped down. "It may sound crazy. I know. But... I won't believe he's gone."

"Correction." Bernard stepped in, "it _is _crazy. Look. I understand not wanting Megamind to be dead. But what you are going through right now is called denial. That denial can fuck a person, or in your case, _a space-fish_, up pretty damn good. And I don't wanna see that happening."

"Yeah..." Minion looked down, agreeing. "Okay. _Okay,_ can you give me one more day? One more chance to search for him, and if we don't find a trace, we'll... Leave the City. Get somewhere safe."

"You sure about that?"

"Yes." Minion replied with a sense of certainity. "Positive."

"Sounds good to me. "

* * *

><p>"Ohhh<em>my God.<em> I feel_ hooorible."_

Wayne almost jumped up from his slumber. He had fallen asleep on a miniscule stool after hours of pacing around the underground housing, worrying about the state of his 'guest'.

And there he was, sitting up on the bed with a sleepy expression on his face, jet-black eyebrows suddenly furrowing as he caught sight of Wayne's expression.

"You look as if you have taken a look of a supernatural being that shouldn't be there. Are you alright?"

"Y-yeah. I'm fine. I just... Didn't expect 'cha to be."

"Hm?" The blue alien stretched out his bare torso. "How come? And… Uh… Why have I been secured down with what seems to be… 'Duct-tape'?"

"You were acting... Weird in your sleep."

"Bit severe doing this, though?"

"Really weird. Can you remember what was going on?" Maybe some information could help him deduce where the _screaming_ had come from.

"I remember waking up. Nothing past that. But please, if you have the information, do enlighten me."

Wayne anxiously rubbed his own neck. "I think you got sick. You had a temperature, and lost consciousness the second I got you some water. Which reminds me…"

He pressed a hand against the blue man's large forehead and gave a look as he realized that the temperature was normal. "You're fine now. That's… Mighty weird."

The alien opened his mouth, possibly to retort, but was interrupted by frantic knocks on the door. The ex-hero straightened his back and nodded to Megamind. "Let's pray that's the doctor."

_(TBC….)_

_**A/N: **_

_**WELL, HERE WE ARE AGAIN. IT'S ALWAYS SUCH A PLEASURE.**_

_**REMEMBER WHEN I TOLD YOU I'D UPDATE REGULARLY?**_

_**OH, HOW WE LAUGHED AND LAUGHED.**_

_**EXCEPT YOU WEREN'T LAUGHING.**_

_**UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES, I'VE BEEN A LAZY WRITEEERRRRR….**_

**And now for something completely not Portal Two related.**

**So, so sorry, my fellow readers! I haven't forgotten of this fic! Just been pre-occupied.**

**Like the other few billion times I have been so.**

**But I have MS word on my phone now, so maybe, just maybe…**

**I can attempt at updating more frequently?**

**I hope you aren't too angry with your Socks.**

**:(**

**See you on the next update, please R and R!**

**-Socks.**


	12. Chapter 12: Scarecrow

**Chapter Twelve: S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W**

"_**Leave a dream where the fallout lies, Watch it grow with the tearstain dries.**_

_**To keep you safe tonight, Heat burns my skin. **_

_**Never mattered 'bout the shape I'm in, I'll keep you safe tonight, y-yeah."**_

_**~Scarecrow, My Chemical Romance**_

What occurred to Bernard when he regained consciousness was the intense warmth around him. It was uncomfortable and made him toss and turn in the big, black buckskin chair he had allowed himself to get to sleep upon. When it began to make his throat sore, the sandy haired man finally decided to get up and get himself some water for the parched throat.

He lazily dragged himself to the kitchen, which was just a room away. However, doing so, he noticed a black cloud hanging over and around him. It made a vile, burning sensation in his nostrils as he was forced to breathe it in.

He stopped dead in his tracks as his chocolate eyes grew wide. In front of him was the kitchen. On fire.

Brainbots frantically attempted to stop it, throwing pails and buckets of water from where the curator presumed was storage. Some had managed to dig up fire extinguishers from somewhere around the lair, but it was of no use, the inferno had somehow broken into the building, and was raging and spreading like mad.

_Oh, my God... Where the hell is Minion! We need to get to safety, and fast! _

Coughing, Bernard covered up his nose and mouth with a sleeve, and sprinted out of the kitchen.

He ducked down as he raced around, trying to find wherever the fish was. The air around him got hotter and hotter, causing the man to panic. He ran around, only stopping when he heard an explosion emanate from behind.

Finally, he found Minion. Said fish was peacefully napping next to a metallic storage shelf with a broom beside him. Bernard would have almost found the sight on the comical side if the situation hadn't been quite as dire as it was.

"Minion! Wake up!"

Instead of ordered instructions, the fish slept on, shifting a little at the bottom of his water filled dome.

Bernard looked around and bit his lip. Clearly, he was going to have to do the most evil thing he could ever do to anything that lived in an aquarium.

He drew his fist up, and wincing, brought it into contact with what seemed to be glass, creating a 'banging' sound.

The fish was immediately awake as the sound and force ricocheted around him. Eyes wide, he jumped up from the ground. "_What was THAT for?"_

"I'm terribly sorry." Bernard replied, genuinely apologetic. "But the fire... And smoke... And you weren't waking up!"

"I must've fallen asleep when cleaning." Minion yawned, "I didn't even power dow-The... What?"

"The fire! In the kitchen! It's spreading, too!"

Minion stared at the smoke that clung to the air around them for three quarters of a second before quietly muttering. "...Dang."

Suddenly, approximately two dozen Brainbots flocked from the direction of the kitchen towards the exit of the lair. Minion gave a confused blink as he watched the robot canines race out of the building. "Surely they should be going to the underground safe area. It's safer ther-"

He was cut off by a large, glowing red beam breaking through from the ceiling and erupting into fire as soon as touching the ground.

"...L-Lazervision." He stuttered, copper eyes as wide as saucers. "He's above us..."

The fish then looked towards the hidden entrance to the cellar, but found it hidden behind another great shield of flame.

"He's cut us off. Come on! We need to get the out of here!" Minion grabbed the man's arm and practically dragged the curator out with him.

Bernard felt as if his lungs were about to burst. He had forced himself not to inhale the poison wafting around him.

So much so that when both jumped out of the hologram doors, he couldn't care less of what the air was like outside, he needed to re-fill his airways.

Luckily, it wasn't all too bad. The scent of smoke was obvious, but the relief of having breathable air was fantastic.

Minion pressed his back against the wall and settled Bernard down to let the man take a good few gulps of air. "You okay?" He whispered the question with concern. "Don't get too comfortable. We need to get under-cover unseen. Otherwise, we're dead. Try to keep quiet. Tell me when you're ready, and we'll get going."

Bernard panted with a sickly cough. "I don't feel too good."

"By the state of you, I think I might have to carry you. Is that going to be okay?"

The curator thought for a minute, " Yeah. Yeah, that'll be fine. I'm ready."

* * *

><p>Watching warehouses burn was surprisingly entertaining. Hal had discovered that with enough gasoline, you could burn anything.<p>

However, one of the warehouses confused him. Even though he had made sure it was lit, the fire had been nearly extinguished. All on its own.

He then recognized the place.

The crooked observatory that seemed very much out of place gave it away; as Roxanne had stated many weeks previously, it was the evil lair of Megamind.

Because of the despise he had for the building, he had decided to grace the place with his presence and watch it burn to the ground close-up. He had even ended up helping it cook with a few shots of lazervision.

However, as he looked on from the sky, something caught his eye. A moving figure moved briskly from near the lair to another building. The ginger was most confused. Surely, nobody could have survived for this long in a wrecked city?

Using his powers, he glanced down with his crystal-clear, hawklike vision. It was indeed, a fish in a gorilla suit (who looked oddly... Familiar) carrying a limp figure.

Confused, freaked out and slightly infuriated, he discreetly watched the figures move into the building nearby. Turning up his super-hearing, he stealthily floated down to the building, chuckling low to himself.

It was time to start phase: 'Tightenville, phase one. Get slaves.'

* * *

><p>Minion gracefully let Bernard down on the dusty floor of the concrete warehouse. The foot that had been previously melted down slightly and damaged from hours of frantic searching in the scorched city had made him run with a slight limp.<p>

He gazed anxiously at Bernard, who shakily picked himself off the ground.

"Look." Minion finally said after a minute of silence. "It's obvious that out of the both of us, I'm probably going to slow us down, but I'm more robust. Here's the deal: anything bad happens, we'll split up. I'm positive the Brainbots are around here... Somewhere. Find them and keep safe."

"W-what are you getting at?"

"I'm trying to work things out. We need to somehow make it to the safe-place underneath the lair. The underground cellar of the lair I told you about which has a tunnel that leads out to the ocean. It's going to be near impossible to get to, but we're going to try."

"But the lair is-"

"Currently off limits. I know. And in less than an hour, so is this place. Let's pray we're not going to face anything too bad. But if we do, I want you to keep safe. I... I don't need anyone else biting the dust on my watch."

Bernard adjusted his glasses slightly, "But... Where are we going to head next?"

"I don't know. But why don't we make ourselves useful for now? You go and corral up some Brainbots and I'll see if I can find something useful here."

"Okay." Bernard mumbled. He'd get the _joys_ of exploring the deserted building first. "Call me down if anything happen-"

**KABOOOSH!**

The sheer force of the wall being practically blown apart drove furniture and Bernard himself to the opposite end of the room.

Bernard felt the back of his head impact hard against the solid wall, and sent a painful, dizzying feeling through him. He cried out and rolled around slightly, rubbing the hurt part of his head with sealed eyes.

He heard Minion yell out, too. But, his body decided to stay under-cover of the scattered shelves.

_"...You!"_ He heard Minion yell out, the fish sounded much angrier than usual.

There was another voice, a slightly more sneery and amused voice. It; or _he, _Bernard assumed from the pitch, gave a curt, mean laugh. "Well, _hey there._"

The curator heard Minion get up. "W-what do you think you're doing!"

Bernard kept flat on the floor, too scared to move an inch. That man was the feared _Tighten_. Failed hero. If he had indeed been infused with the DNA of Metro Man, God knew what he could do to a fragile person like him.

"I think that the question should be pushed right onto you, fishy-dude. What are you doing, trespassing Tightenville? This land is _mine. _"

"I was trying to find Sir! All because of _you_, you sickening, ungrateful _oaf,_ he's... Gone."

There was a slight pause before the other man gave another guffaw. "You must be referring to Megamind. He's dead and gone, believe me."

"Then, I'll avenge his... His death! Do you have any idea what _the hell_ you have done? I suppose not, as it might be too complicated to an idiot within the likes of _you_ to understand. "

There was a shocked silence throughout the entire room. Even Bernard found himself slightly frightened by the sheer anger in the voice of the fish.

"For your information, you ignorant brute," Minion carried on ,"All because of you, a _freaking_ species is possibly lost. A gorgeous city ruined, people dead and lives bust! But you couldn't care less, could you? Ungrateful swine. We never should have trained you."

"...Trained me?...No. You're space...?-"

"_Yes, I'm 'Space stepmom'." _The fish practically growled. "You seriously couldn't guess? I can't believe, you got given these amazing powers... You don't deserve them! You **never** did!"

What Bernard heard next almost made him jump out. There was a great thud as a pile of metal, or Minion's suit, was pushed onto the floor. The other man gave a fearsome growl, almost animal-like. A sound of shattering glass and Minion's cry for help rang around the minute room. A squelching sound sent a shiver through the curator, as he gritted his teeth and pressed himself even more against the floor.

"Listen here, fishy-man." There was an element of bloodcurdling _joy_ in that voice. "I don't appreciate getting insults thrown at me like that. I don't like the fact that you're in my land, either."

"Kill me, then."

Bernard contained the gasp. What was Minion trying to achieve?

But the villain had other ideas. "I don't think so." Another squelching sound was followed by now a gasp of pain. "You're mine. You're going to help me with my new plan."

"I think I'd rather die."

Bernard could almost hear, _hear _the ferocious grin in the voice that replied. "You don't exactly have a choice."

**(TBC…)**

**A/N: I TOLD YOU. **

**I TOLD YOU! HAH! A regular update. How about that? D**

**Sorry for everyone who was expecting another chapter with Megs. But trust me, he'll be in pretty soon. The whole story takes a bit of a… Turn around now. Just trust me, things are going to get a bit wild xD**

**Thanks for staying on the ride! Please R and R! Your comments, criticisms and help have really helped me out. Thanks so, so much! **

**~Socks.**


	13. Chapter 13: Crash

**Chapter Thirteen: Crash.**

**"Lookin at my reflection, I don't like what I see. **

**so I ask myself the question, 'Do I got what I want? Do I got what I need?'.**

**Not afraid of the future, spinnin' right out of control. **

**I think I'm goin' too fast, think I'm going to crash!" ~Crash, Papa Roach.**

"Young master Scott!" The elderly man shook his hand, before giving the ex-hero a smile. "I guess I really shouldn't call you that anymore. You're so grown up now... Where has the time gone?"

"I'm glad they sent ya over, doc. " Wayne gave a grin. This doctor had always been a childhood favourite. He was one of the small handful of people (including family) who knew he was still alive. Personally, he had never required the doctor's help, but when his adoptive father had experienced problems with his heart, the man had probably saved the life of Lord Scott. "Come on in. How have ya been?"

"Not that well, unfortunately. Apologies about being so late, you wouldn't believe the routes I had to take to get here. I'd suggest you move out as soon as possible, you're very close to the danger-zone."

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there." Wayne shrugged. "Now, just come down the stairs. We're down at basement level."

"Oh, yes. Very fortunate chap you managed to get under your wing. The nearest hospital services are miles and miles away, to mention, pretty fully booked."

"Ahaha. Yes. '_Chap'_..." Wayne awkwardly agreed, walking down the stairs. "Erm, I've gotta warn you doc, he's not... Really himself."

"Well, yes. I do suppose some trauma after his hometown being attacked is possible. But, not to worry, Master Scott. I assure you, there's nothing I really haven't seen."

"About that... " The superpowered man awkwardly paced down his underground residence with the doctor on his tail. "You... Well, why don't you just take a look for yourself?"

The doctor gave him a confused stare and pushed open the door that Wayne was pointing at.

Inside, the blue alien was biting his lip as he waited for Wayne's return. He heard two voices from outside his room, and stomach was finally full of fluttering butterflies.

At least one positive thing of this whole situation was that he had remembered something more about himself.

Even if that thing was the fact that he didn't care much for doctors.

Why exactly this was the case was beyond him. He assumed ir was sinething else to do with the forgotten past of his.

Suddenly, the door creaked open and in waltzed a stout man with a gleaming stethoscope dangling loosely around his neck. He seemed to be in his sixties, and walked in with a relatively happy smile on his face which almost immediately transformed into a look of horror.

"Oh, my God... He's her-"

"Why, yes he is!" Wayne joined the party, baritone voice booming. "And he ain't feeling too good, are ya, little buddy?"

"...no." Megamind agreed.

"But he's _dea_-" The doctor was interrupted by Wayne putting a hand over the doctor's mouth.

"-r to us! Very dear to us! And that's why we want to help him!" He dropped down to a whisper and quietly muttered, "I'll explain later." in the man's ear.

"Oh. Right... Okay." He nodded and turned to the alien. "W-what seems to be the, erm, problem?"

"He seems to have trouble walking. He's been beaten up pretty badly, I think to the point he lost conciousness and he's forgotten... Everything. He's also been having this on-off fever which scares the living daylights outta me."

The man scratched his chin and nodded slowly. "Alright, then. Let's get your temperature checked out first."

He pulled out a thermometer and before giving the alien time to act, put it towards his ear. "Just a bit above normal _human_ temperature."

"Its always been like that, e'vry time I measured it, anyway."

"How high has it risen during the peak fever times?"

"Pretty high... Fourty Two degrees centigrate. Whatever that is in our units. I was using a thermometer we picked up from holiday. It was the only one I could find, but I did some research and fount out that aparently thirty six to seven is normal. Like I said. Scary."

The doctor continued on with diagnostics, attempting to keep his cool even though he was slightly shaken by the fact that he was trying to help out the ex-evil overlord of Metro City. Megamind wasn't all that comfy with the situation either. The doctor was not a threat, but the almost 'critical' eye and disinfectant smell that the man almost reeked of weren't exactly making this the calmest of situations.

"You may want to apply new bandages." The middle-aged man murmured, letting the stethoscope loosen. "Otherwise, his injuries on the upper-body aren't all too severe. Pretty nonexistent, actually. But slight scarring is e ident here and there. I'm afraid that I am not experienced with dealing with the anatomy of your kind. However, it seems incredibly similar to that of a human. The cuts haven't been infected, and muscle and bone damage is minimal. Bruises, tearing of skin and severe... Friction burns cover a significant portion, which will limit mobility of the upper oddly enough, majority seem almost gone."

Metro Man gave a nod. "He's got a pretty nasty foot injury. It's swollen and all."

Megamind, who had stayed nervously quiet throughout the check-up took Wayne's words as a cue to pull his legs up from underneath the blanket. The swelling on the hurt foot had gone down by a fair amount since he'd last taken a look at it, which suprised him, considering that the last time he had done so had been before sleep.

The doctor, who was currently cradling the dark purple, still rather swollen ankle, turned to Wayne, "This is rather... Unfortunate. I don't have an X-Ray on me, but-"

"Last time I checked it, his ankle was fractured. This bit here, especially." Wayne interrupted, pointing around the ankle. "There's something else up with it, too. I'm not sure what, though."

The doctor gave him a look, but upon remembering which exact super powered man he was talking to, he gave a small nod and replied. "I suspect severe muscle contusion, from the looks of it. Usually, with a fractured ankle, the bruising isn't this large, but with this case, it seems to have quite a large spread. Torn muscle could very well be a possibility."

"It was worse before. I'm not sure how far he walked to get here, or how he manage to do it. Can you remember, man?"

"It, uh, seems like it was a while ago. I woke up in the field and travelled for quite a bit. However, I know I was fatigued at that point, so things may have seemed longer that they actually were."

"You said he was… 'Beaten up'." The doctor said, putting the ankle down. "Please elaborate. The last time I saw… Mister Megamind was on the news, before his suit tripped up and blew up-"

"Hah." Wayne gave the man a desperate look of 'don't say anything more'. "Well, like I said. He can't remember anything. We're not sure how he got into this state."

"Would you not think that it's best to assume that it was the explosion that caused all the damage. I'm not at all sure what happened on the day_… Tighten_ took over, but the suit Mister Megamind was going around was pretty wrecked. What if… The force of the explosion caused him to travel all the way out of town. The fall would explain all the damage done to the body, as well as the amnesia. It's a miracle he actually survived through that, though."

Megamind gave a blank look. Why was this all news to him? It didn't, however, seem to be news to the superpowered man, who spoke up. "What about the fever? A fall don't cause that."

"An infection from the cuts, maybe?"

"No. I disinfected it all. It seemed like a disease, but other than the fever itself, he's fine."

"Hm. How strange…" Suddenly, the sound of a jazz solo filled the room. The doctor fished for the mobile phone in his pocket, and hit the 'pick up' button. He conversed with the person on the other end of the line, voice becoming more frantic by the end of the call. "Sorry. I need to get back soon. Something urgent just popped up back at the new HQ."

"Oh. " Wayne frowned. "Can you at least tell us what to do? I mean, how to treat him?"

"Of course. Make sure he gets plenty of rest, and lots of water. Fever usually means that the body is trying to fight off a disease. I'd say all he needs right now is time to recover from his injuries. He shouldn't try to move that ankle for a few weeks, at least. Even after that, take it slow. "

_I was hopin' this man could've helped us out more. _Wayne gave the doctor a somewhat grateful smile. _ I'm pretty stuck with Megamind, then. _

"Sure. Thanks for coming over." Wayne finally replied. "D'ya want something to drink or eat before the road? I'm sure your next pit-stop is a while away."

"Yeah. Sure." The doctor replied, putting things back into his suitcase. "I hate to impose, but I haven't eaten properly for a few days. It'll have to be very quick, though."

"Great." Wayne flashed him a smile and turned to Megamind. "Do you want anything? You ain't eaten since yesterday."

"No, thank you." The blue alien said, eyelids drooping. "Terribly tired. I feel like sleeping for a while longer."

"Sure. Fine." Wayne gave a small, encouraging grin. "If you're bored, feel free to watch some TV. The remote is right next to ya."

"Thanks..." Came the mumble as the extraterrestrial turned away.

Wayne lead the old man out of the room, through the fancy and well-lit corridor and into the kitchen.

"I'll just get some stuff out. Not sure watcha like, so you can just-"

"What's happened to him?"

"Huh?"

"He seems... Different. I never knew him personally, and I'm not a psychologist... However, he was always a lot more... Jumpy? On the television. And in public appearance."

Wayne gave a sigh. The rich smell of coffee was already wafting around the room as the machine ground away at the dark beans.

"Don't tell anyone, doc, but... I'm giving him another chance."

He was met with a baffled look. "What do you mean?"

"Look, his memory has been wiped clean. He can't remember what... What I did. And what he turned into."

"Please tell me you're joking." The doctor drummed fingers on the counter with a nervous glance to the superpowered man that towered above him.

* * *

><p>The blue skinned man tossed around once more. He was tired, but nothing seemed comfortable. Either everything was too hot, or too cold. The soft, cushiony blanket suddenly seemed to be annoyingly clingy, and stuck onto him in a manner most uncomfortable.<p>

He finally gave up on the idea of actually trying to sleep, and instead, grabbed the television remote.

He gave a small frown upon examining the rectangular object. The television had so far been switched off since he'd awakened in this room, so operating the object seemed somewhat new. Deep from his subconcious, he knew what it was and _exactly _how it worked and all the components that typically went into televisions. However, he also knew that the functions of different models also operated differently. And that was the unfortunate problem.

Upon staring the the controller, the words 'universal remote' sprung to mind. Whatever the hell _that_ was.

He pressed one of the buttons, and almost jumped as he heard a 'whirr' noise from directly above him.

_Oh. Ceiling fan. How'd I overlook that?_

He tapped the button again, and the fan swiftly switched off. Upon staring at the remote again, he noticed a button that was faintly labelled as 'TV'.

"...That would make sense."

Instantly, the screen flickered to life. His toxic eyes widened with anticipation as the set calibrated itself and...

**TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES. PLEASE STAND BY.**

"Alright... That channel must not be working..." He pressed a button which made the screen flicker, but was disappointed when the same message was displayed.

"Oh, come on!" The alien gave a small, infuriated snarl, and slumped back. "Every channel is out?"

He flicked over a few more stations, but it seemed to be of no use. He placed the remote down and tried to get back to sleep, despite no longer feeling at all tired. He rolled onto his bandaged back and stared at the ceiling.

This was driving him insane.

He wasn't at all sure _what_ about this all was making him go crazy, but for some reason, he knew that the longer he stayed here, the worse things were going to get.

And yet, this feeling of being trapped felt rather familiar. An almost deja-vu sort of situation.

He glanced over to the closed mahogany door. It would be ever-so-easy to get out of the room; all he had to do was walk out. No locked doors, or guards (unless you counted Wayne).

Of course, the one thing that was standing in the way of his escape was his injury.

But the more he thought about it, the more he realised that it didn't hurt as much as it had before he'd gone to sleep. Previously, the slightest bit of movement had caused severe pain. Now...

Well, it didn't seem to be in that much pain at all. A smidgeon on the numb side, but otherwise, if not for the slight swelling and colour, he could have easily assumed he was... Okay.

_That's insane, _he thought, pushing the blanket off to take another look at the ankle. _I was told that I wasn't to walk for a few weeks. There's no way it could've gotten better that fast. _

Squinting his emerald eyes slightly, he tilted his head slightly. _But, I can't stay here, either. It feels as if I stay here.. I'll miss something important. _

_Do I dare? _

Twisting his body, he lifted both knees out. The bandages covering the most of his bare upper body sagged slightly, and he took the liberty of removing the one that nearly flopped off. He nearly gasped as he saw that there was no cut underneath it.

Even though the gash had been massive just a few days ago.

"This is just... Odd." He muttered, removing more bandages to reveal pale blue skin underneath. Some places still had small cuts or bruises on them, and one patch on his upper thigh now had a tiny bit of scarring upon it which he hoped wasn't too noticeable.

However, all this was a huge recovery from the state he had woken up in.

_An impossible recovery. _He shook his large head with disbelief. _This is not in any way possible. It can't be. People don't recover this quickly. _

"...But, I'm not a person."

He stared sown at his feet, which were now hovering an inch or two above the floor.

_What if... The fever was a reviving mechanism of sorts? I underwent hibernation, and during that period, my body miraculously recovered itself. It seems possible enough... _

_Alright. Okay. Walking now, scientific theories, later. _He took a deep inhale. _I'm okay. I can do this. Just take it slow... _

He bit his lip and anxiously placed his good foot onto the ground. So far, so good. And then, careful as ever, lifted the other.

The cold floor sent rather odd sensations along his soles, contrasting with the warmth of the blanket and sheet they had been sandwiched between for the past week or so.

The amnesiac villain put pressure on the the uninjured leg and keeping himself steady by supporting himself clutching the end of the bed. He slowly straightened his back, feeling various bones click.

A shudder practically ran through him as he realised he was standing. Standing!

It was a glorious feeling, which made him swallow with pride. But the real test began now. Would he be able to _walk_?

He gulped as he put majority of his body weight onto the bedpost and stood up with the other foot.

It hurt, and it hurt a _lot._ The pain almost made him yell, but through gritted teeth and severe biting of tongue, not a sound came out. After a brief second or so, he realised the hurt wasn't as bad as he first had assumed, and placed the sensation under a psychological reaction. He gave his bodyweight back to his good foot, but kept a slight amount of pressure on the injured one.

The joy from within him made him almost want to laugh out loud. He had taken a step! A shaky, slow and small step, but inside, it felt like a great leap.

He took another, biting his lip, eyes wide. Then, another and other. And then he felt himself letting go of the supporting bedpost and gradually making it to the other side of the room.

As soon as he made it to the door, he grabbed onto it, lungs heaving.

"I-I'm walking." He grinned to himself. "Oh my God, I'm walking!"

The swollen ankle stung like hell, even when he was applying little pressure on it, but a week ago, he wouldn't have thought of being able to do so. He felt exctatic, adrenaline rushing through him.

Should he go on further? Get out of the room? He realised he didn't know how to navigate around this place, having only been out if the room once, and that had been when Wayne had first found him.

What if he got lost, or his fever returned?

"This place is underneath a schoolhouse." He reminded himself. "It cannot be all that dangerous, nor that huge."

Megamind heard the voices of the two other individuals who were also in the underground residence a few rooms away.

_Just follow them. Won't they be surprised to see me mobile? Oh, the looks on their faces. this'll be priceless. _

However, as he slowly travelled to the kitchen, he heard the voices become louder, and more agressive. The blue alien approached the door even more slowly, listening to try and pick up every word.

"But, master Scott!" He heard the refined voice of the doctor exclaim. "This charade cannot be healthy!"

"_Charade_?" Megamind took another step forward. _What's going on?_

Wayne sighed back, obvious guilt in his voice. "I know. But I want to make everything even-steven-"

"Don't you see! You aren't doing this for him! You're doing this for yourself. To make yourself feel better! You think not telling him the truth is going to benefit him?"

Than got a cocked eyebrow from the extraterrestrial. Were they talking... About him?

"Maybe I want to feel better!" Wayne suddenly raged. "Do you think I _**deserve**_ this damned guilt! I just want to make things right, okay? He doesn't _need_ to know he was the _villain. What if, all this time, all he wanted was some attention! I've watched enough reality TV to understand that when_ kids don't get what they want, they act bad. And what have we been doing? _I _been doing! Punishing him for it. There's no way in hell I'm letting him find out what he did. What _I _did."

There was a shocked silence in the sub-level mansion. Megamind's breathing had turned shallow as he stood frozen before the kitchen door, blood run cold and eyes wide.

He was the... Villain? What did that even mean? What had he done wrong? What had Wayne done?

All the questions were like cold water, splashing onto his face and waking him up. Except he was already awake, and now felt more numb and sick.

There was a small clink as a cup was put onto a solid surface, and a scuffling noise as a bag, presumably the doctor's, was picked up.

"Well." The doctor said, annoyed, but there was also a small hint of fright in the voice. "I'm very sorry to leave you on such a terrible note. But please, listen to me when I say it. Nothing good can come from lying. You were a _hero _once. Maybe not right now, but there was a time when you were, and you of all people should know about the negatives. Didn't you co-star in a children's PSA about lying once? Whatever. Just think about it."

The door opened, and the doctor swiftly walked out. Wayne peeked out of the doorway with a sigh, and watched him leave, only to find the blue alien standing in the doorway with a look of shock and hurt on his face, which swiftly morphed to that of blatant disgust.

(TBC...)

**A/N: That whole chapter was written up on my phone, on my train rides back and forth schools. I'm my own beta, and apologise if even though I've done a triple check-over, there are a lot of mistakes ;v; **

**So, I just got my exam results from my science modular exams, and I ended up with an A and A* grades! :D**

**Thanks to all who supported me as I studied, as well as for your glorious reviews! They are the most motivating things a writer can get, and i also love to chat with you all! Thanks for some of the fanart, too! I never expected to recieve any for... Well, this! **

**I am incredibly grateful for all your help, support and all. Thanks :)**

**~Socks.**


	14. Chapter 14: Everything You Know is Wrong

**:Chapter Fourteen- Everything you know is wrong:**

"_**Everything you know is wrong,**__**  
><strong>__**Black is white, up is down and short is long.**__**  
><strong>__**And everything you thought was just so**__**  
><strong>__**Important doesn't matter.**__**  
><strong>__**Everything you know is wrong,**__**  
><strong>__**Just forget the words and sing along.**__**  
><strong>__**All you need to understand is…**__**  
><strong>__**Everything you know is wrong!" ~Weird Al.**_

The constant, loud whirring of chopper blades now seemed to have become a backing track to the journey. Roxanne hadn't quite remembered falling asleep, but she did re-call waking up about an hour ago; finding her boss seated opposite her, nose in book.

She had quite lost track of time, and was staring at both the scenery and the insides of the helicopter itself. The design on the inside seemed all too messy and complicated for her to follow. As if all the parts of the chopper had been chucked in, and as soon as it was made sure that the machinery worked, nothing more was done to neaten it up.

Truth be told, she was bored. This all seemed incredibly quiet, serene (as serene as you could get with the deafening noise of the chopper blades) and calm.

_Too calm. _

Then again, she was going to be hovering over a metropolis so terrifying, it had been classed the most hazardous city in the world. All because of the anger and immense power of one man.

Granted, she didn't actually have to go directly in. All she had to do was talk about it, let people know what was going on like the _good _little reporter she was. What would happen after that was beyond her. Considering _she_ was the one who was going to be on camera, she was most likely to get majority of the recognition for the report, as usual. She hoped that this wasn't going to become a usual thing, however.

Last time she had tried something new like this on her job, she had been granted with the all too profitable position of 'damsel in distress'.

Then again, that arrangement had been terminated when Metro Man died, especially so now that Megamind was gone. Maybe it was a time for a change of pace? She did somehow have to move on.

It was somewhat funny how empty her heart felt without either of the boys around. Attending to Wayne's funeral had been something she would have found easier to deal with if there hadn't been so many people around, sobbing and breaking down nerve-wise around her. Then again, she understood why they were so upset. Their hero, the messiah-like figure to them was dead, of course they'd feel pretty crappy inside (obnoxiously so on the outside). She had been grieving, too.

However, in hindsight, she realised that she hadn't been mourning for Wayne as much as mourning the city. Mourning also the Megamind she had _thought_ she'd known. The blue alien who'd never get close to killing Metro Man, for his goofy traps and predictable schemes always let him down.

She had always believed that deep inside, somewhere within the blue-skinned man's extraordinarily large cranium, the idea of completely killing off the hero didn't compute. As if he lacked something, whether it be enough hatred or courage to really kill his 'nemesis'. There was always something too childish and fun about his plans and inventions, which was quite dark if one thought about it, considering that the majority of said inventions had the motif of that to kill someone. It had always seemed more of a game, one that she had been dragged into.

Did she like playing along? Well, it was hard to tell. Shocking and even (although the reporter would _never _admit it) quite frightening had the first few kidnappings been. But then it eased into a routine, which she had began taking for granted. Getting kidnapped every few weeks and missing boring meetings, taken for granted. Some brain-food with on-the-spot banter, taken for granted. A new evil scheme, give or take a few dozen spikes lasers and drills, taken for granted. Being saved by the hero, saying a few closing words and receiving that nice, big cheque on payday, all taken for _**granted**_.

The biggest thing, however, had not been the superficial parts (although they were still large and influential).

It had instead been the almost… _Seductive_ order that it had all turned into. Something she could depend upon. Yes, kidnappings were hard to predict to an _exact_ point, nevertheless, she knew she was going to get kidnapped. It was a fact of life. Life which had a 100% of being cloudy with a side of getting knocked out and taken hostage. Regardless of what day and time; and then, the whole cycle would rotate once more.

Hadn't she done a report on taking things for granted a few days post Wayne's death? Oh, yes. She had been talking about the possibility of everyone taking the superhero in such a way, but deep inside, she realized that she had been referring to the typical sequence of events itself.

It all ground to a halt when a superpowered chunk of it was missing. Things went pretty weird after that; things that _still _didn't make much sense to her taking place.

Megamind's _façade_had been one of those things. Talk about unpredictable. It didn't seem much like him to outright lie like he had done…

_Oh, God no. Of course he'd do something like that. He's a villain. He killed Wayne, took over the city, and outright lied to get close to you and..._

Then again, she remembered 'the look'. The small glint of 'Oh-God-What-The-Hell-This-Can't-be-real' panic, much to the likeness of a toddler that just realised that he or she had just lost their mother in the supermarket, she had seen as she had torn her own frightened eyes from Wayne's skeleton on that fateful day and looked into those of the soon-to-be overlord. She had quickly looked away, eyes back on Wayne.

It was something that a person would quickly overlook because of the split-second it had been there. But she remembered it, as if the image was knitted into a permanent place of her subconcious. As much as she wanted to deny it, place all blame and hatred for what had happened on him, push all doubts about what had occurred from her confused mind, she couldn't. Because of that one scared, confused look that screamed his refusal to believe what was in front of him at that point in time.

"_Maybe Megamind isn't so bad after all."_

_But, it just isn't enough evidence to say Megamind didn't want it to happen. _The inner reporter spoke up. A_ look? Anyone could __conjour__ one up. The murder was intentional. I…I-It had to be. Besides, why are you even thinking about it? They're both __**dead**__. _

"Whooah. Check it out! Metro City, ten O' clock! Holy shit, that does **not** look pretty!"

Sapphire eyes looked up and out of the window. Her boss was in a strange state, seemingly engrossed with the horrific sight of not only the tortured City, but a filthy, black cloud that ate at the centre area of it. He was, however, also seemingly frightened of the jaw-dropping visual, with one hand clutching his seat so hard, the reporter had hard time believing he wasn't breaking off.

Tears nearly swelled up in her eyes as she looked over the demolished buildings, many now reduced to rubble. The flames with their tight, choking grips were an astonishing sight themselves.

As the bitter, vile smell of the smoke wafted into her lungs, she couldn't help but to want to curl down like an old leaf and wallow in pity. Why was it, that on the time the hero of Metro City was truly needed most, was the time that he had gone? It was almost as if the universe had decided to dick around with them all, causing many people utter pain and misery for no apparent reason.

* * *

><p>"<em>Megamind!<em> Wait up!"

No answer.

"Trust me! There's a reason why... I did what I did. Just come on back, and I'll explain!" A hand fell on Megamind's shoulder, gripping him back.

The tall grass that he was now crushing with his bare, blue feet made a squishing sound against the floppy mud that clung to equally bare soles. The alien gave the other an intimidating glare, and Wayne's hand immediately fell.

"Listen to me." The ex-hero muttered.

"Listen to you? There isn't one reason in the whole damn galaxy I should _listen _to _you_, Wayne. If that's even your real name!"

"But I-"

"You what? You lied to me for no apparent reason, you illogical idiot! I-I would have dealt with any past given to me! I'm not some weak piece of... Well, whatever. I'm out of here."

He took a few more steps forward, ignoring the pain of his ankle and the discomfort of the sharp rocks and bits and bobs that were a part of the ground. The cold air enveloped around his blue skin; if he had hairs on his arms and legs, they probably be standing up from the freeze.

"Megamind! Just.. Oh, _lawdy__. _Where are you going, anyway?" Frantic, Wayne yelled to the alien. What was he to do? He had never encountered a situation such as this. A situation so fragile, so much _his _fault, that he needed to solve without exerting his physical strength, but his mental. "The City's off limits, and there ain't another shelter for a few miles! You might've gotten better, but look at yourself! Your ankle ain't healed! You're walking around with these darn sagging bandages, in your underwear!"

Megamind glanced down at the pair of black boxers that were around his skinny hips and after a brief silence, gave the ex-hero a deathly glare. "So?"

"So?" Wayne was almost amused. "You ain't prepared to go anywhere! I don't care how well you think you can fend for yourself, you ain't gonna last long out there. Now stop being some hardy fool and listen to me!"

The alien felt a hand wrap against his forearm and pull him back. Gritting his teeth, he yanked against it. Results of this were rather painful, as the hand refused to let him go and force of the pull nearly had him falling over.

"Stop it!" His growl sounded a little more frustrated than intended. He was angry, but knew what Wayne was saying was right. Even though he could hardly look at the man at this precise moment, never mind give him any of his trust.

Oh, how this reminded Wayne of his hero days. Too much for his liking, really. The whole conflict with Megamind which his lies were there to avoid. He gave the blue-skinned man a look. "You're gonna die if you leave right now."

"I don't care." Megamind gave the muddy ground a glance of gloom with a sigh and pulled himself away from the conversation."You... You lied to me. Not only that, but... I actually gave you my trust, 'yknow? I can't remember anything about myself. But you can. And evidently, so could he. He looked like he'd seen some weird apparition when he came into the room. "

Wayne stayed silent as the blue alien turned around to face the city. "I thought I'd at least _deserve_ to know something of my past. _Apparently not._ Thing is, a part of me lies in this city. Something that... Belongs to me. But... nothing of the brief past you've dictated to me connects me to it. "

Something about this whole scene seemed oddly familiar to Megamind. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, nevertheless, the element of de-ja-vu still lay thick around him, as if it was screaming at him to remember. Instead, he shook the feeling off.

Green eyes met sky blue as the alien swiveled around. "Why did you _lie_ to me? I'm honestly curious by the purpose of your actions."

Wayne almost flinched from the intense glare of the toxic gaze. He felt Megamind's eyes search his face. When he finally found the courage to look into the less humanoid alien's face (which, for the record, was strange. He never used to have trouble looking for courage) was met by a look more desperate than furious.

Why was coming clean so difficult? He used to be Metro Man. The sense of justice was second nature!

Or at least should be.

"I guess... It was protection."

The reply was instant. "Of what?"

"Protecting you from what 'ya were before. To give you a blank slate. And..."

"Go on."

"Protect myself. From your hate. Stop you from being evil. Stop me having to be the hero again."

"I hate you?" The confusion in his voice gave Wayne a small bit of hope. He still had the opportunity to get Megamind to listen to him, to make him understand why he had fed the alien lies.

"I don't know, really."He re-called, thinking of the events behind him. 'Heroic' acts which mostly involved beating the living daylights out of the more fragile alien. "From the way I acted, I sure wouldn't blame ya. I suppose you need the whole story to figure it out for yourself."

Megamind's tone was mostly suspicious, yet thick with obvious interest. "How do I know you're not going to give me lies again?"

"Hm…" Wayne couldn't help but to scratch his chin at that. "I have more than 'nough decency as a man, well… An alien man? Not to lie again about the same thing coz of your reaction. It just wouldn't be fair, and despite what you think of me now, or what'cha thought of me back then… I don't consider myself a bad person. You... You deserve a blank slate. But you also deserve the truth, but'cha can't have both. I s'pose the choice is yours."

"True." The blue alien nodded with an unreadable look in his emerald eyes, which had oddly… Darkened. "I'll choose the latter, I suppose. I mean, I suppose your explanation of all this would be good to hear. Validity I can always decide on later. The doctor's reaction leads me to think he isn't the only person who knew me from before. If everyone's minds were wiped, too, I guess I may have considered the blank slate option, nevertheless, I cannot change their view of myself without really knowing what that view is."

_(TBC...)_

**A/N: Rather quick chapter. It was one that I wanted to get out of the way, because the following few will be pretty… Well, action-packed is a bit of an understatement. Let's just say that Murphy's Law is really going to want to screw around with everyone. **

**Megamind: Do your worst, cosmic law!**

**Oh, God. He just jinxed it. **

**See you all soon! Please R and R! :D**

**~Socks.**


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